Orphaned polar bear cubs settling in at Winnipeg zoo

A pair of orphaned polar bear cubs from northern Manitoba are getting to know their new home at Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo this week.

The 10-month-old male and female cubs were spotted by Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship staff travelling by helicopter along the Hudson Bay shore near York Factory, Man., on Sept. 24.

• Polar bear cubs coming to Winnipeg zoo

Crews had waited 48 hours for the cubs' mother, but she did not appear, so the brother and sister were flown to Winnipeg over the weekend.

The zoo posted a YouTube video on Thursday of the wee bears checking out their new enclosure at its International Polar Bear Conservation Centre.

• ON MOBILE? Watch the video here.

The male cub weighed in at 50 kilograms, while the female was about 46 kilograms, Dr. Stephen Peterson, the zoo's head of conservation and research, said in the video.

"All new bears come into the facility and undergo [a] 30-day quarantine,and this allows them to get a bit more used to the keepers and the veterinary staff. We give them vaccines and monitor their health," Peterson said.

"We're looking forward to them going into the transition process and eventually being introduced to the other bears that we have here in Journey to Churchill," he added.