Dutch polar bear ends Mercedes' 13 years of solitude

• Walker the polar bear takes in the Highland air as he ventures from his temporary accommodation at Kincraig Picture: Peter Jolly

Until yesterday she was the only polar bear in a UK zoo but she will now share accommodation with a new, younger male companion from Holland.

However, two-year-old Walker, who has taken up residence at the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig, near Kingussie, having been transported from Rhenen Zoo, will not reach sexual maturity for another three years.

At that stage, he will be moved to another enclosure where it is hoped he will breed with other females.

Walker was transported by road and ferry to his new home and yesterday was released into a holding pen where he and Mercedes saw each other for the first time.

Douglas Richardson, the park's animal collection manager, said: "We are looking forward to seeing how he and Mercedes react to one another once he is released into the holding pen."

Special modifications have been made to the park's polar bear enclosure so Walker and Mercedes can be managed separately and gradually introduced.

Once Walker has become familiar with his surroundings in the holding pen, he will be released into the specially designed natural extension of the enclosure.

The Royal Zoologicial Society of Scotland, which runs the park, announced plans last year to keep polar bears in its collection for the foreseeable future and, in the long term, to contribute to the conservation of the increasingly threatened species.