The Assiniboine Park Zoo is getting ready to give Hudson the polar bear a warm welcome.

The zoo has been without a polar bear since Debby, the world’s oldest polar bear, died in 2008 at 42.

Hudson, a 15-month-old, 410-pound polar bear from the Toronto Zoo, will arrive at the zoo in two weeks, zoo officials said today.

Hudson was born at the Toronto Zoo, the only survivor of a litter of three cubs.

Hudson will be housed at the zoo’s International Polar Bear Conservation Centre until its 10-acre Journey to Churchill exhibit opens in 2014.

"This is exciting for all of us at the Assiniboine Park Zoo and a big step forward in the zoo’s polar bear program," Tim Sinclair-Smith, the zoo’s director of zoological operations said today.

"We can’t wait to give Hudson a proper Winnipeg welcome and to give the community an opportunity to do the same."