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Adorable video shows polar bear half-sisters playing in large tub of ice

The half-sisters were both born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.

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This adorable video shows young polar bear half-sisters Nora, seven, and Amelia Gray, six, playing in a large tub full of ice at the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

A video shared by the zoo shows the sisters digging and diving into the ice.

Zookeepers say the bears, who only met last year, “enjoy playfully sparring, rolling in ice and diving into their deep saltwater pools.”

The half-sisters were both born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan (SSP).

Nora was transferred to the Oregon Zoo at 10 months old to keep the zoo’s lone polar bear, a 31-year-old female named Tasul, company after her brother, Conrad, died in old age.

Amelia Gray joined Nora in Oregon last year, and even though they had never met, the pair became fast friends, zookeepers said.

"Polar bear introductions can be very intense so we took it slowly at first," said Amy Cutting, who oversees the zoo's polar bear habitat, at the time of their meeting.

"But they made it very clear they wanted to be together, and their care team listened."

Nora and Amelia Gray contribute to research into polar bear diets and how they may be affected by climate change, conducted by the zoo in partnership with Polar Bears International, the U.S. Geological Survey and others.

“Nora enjoys her time in a swim flume designed to help scientists understand the caloric requirements of wild polar bears,” the zoo said in a statement.

Amelia Gray, before moving to Portland, was one of just a few bears outfitted with a “Burr on Fur,” a prototype tracking device designed for wild bears by 3M.

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