Patches the polar bear greets public at North Carolina Zoological Park ASHEBORO, N.C., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Officials at the North Carolina Zoological Park said Patches the polar bear is adjusting to her new home at the park. The 26-year-old, 700-pound bear, who was brought to the Asheboro zoo from Pennsylvania, became the first official resident of the zoo's expanded and renovated polar bear exhibit to greet the public Christmas Day, the (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reported Friday. "We're tickled about having a bear back here," said Jeff Owen, animal management supervisor for the section of the zoo that houses the polar bears. The zoo had a set of polar bear triplets when it opened its North America section in 1994, but the last surviving triplet, Aquila, died in September at age 26. Another of the zoo's bears, Wilhelm, died at the Milwaukee County Zoo while the North Carolina Zoo exhibit was being renovated in October.