UPDATED Monday, May 18, 2015---8:10 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A zoo in Madison is welcoming twin polar bears as its newest residents.

The 2 1/2-year-old bears named Sakari and Suka are living in the new $9.1 million Arctic Passage exhibit at the Henry Vilas Zoo. The Wisconsin State Journal reports the exhibit opens Saturday.

The polar bears are sharing the new 1.7-acre complex with two grizzly bears and three harbor seals. The species will live in separate yards.

Visitors can watch the polar bears swim in their 46,500-gallon pool through glass. The pool is more than five times larger than the zoo's former exhibit for polar bears.

The zoo's previous polar bear, Mishka, died in 2013 at the age of 30.

The Arctic Passage exhibit is the biggest project in the Madison zoo's 104-year history.

Copyright 2015: Associated Press

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Posted: Thursday, February 26, 2015 --- 10:14 a.m.

MADISON, Wis.--- Dane County's Henry Vilas Zoo is expanding its family.

Zoo officials announced Thursday that the zoo will welcome two-and-a-half-year-old polar bear twins to the zoo's new Arctic Passage exhibit in time for its grand opening this summer.

The polar bears, Suka and Sakari, are coming from the Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota. Once they arrive, the Henry Vilas Zoo will house two of only 60 polar bears in AZA-accredited zoos in North America.

Arctic Passage is the largest expansion in the Zoo’s 104-year history, covering more than 1.7 acres.

“We not only have winter weather that some days only polar bears can love, but soon our zoo will have one of the premier exhibits in the country to showcase these incredible animals,” County Executive Joe Parisi said in a release. “Building Arctic Passage and being one of only a few places with these bears speak directly to the priority we here in Dane County place on conservation, and taking better care of the place we call home.”

The Arctic Passage exhibit is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend. According to the zoo, only $270,000 is left to be raised for the Arctic Passage project.