Detroit Zoo officials hope Nuka (pictured above), a 7-year-old male polar bear on loan from the Pittsburgh Zoo, will impregnate Talini, the Detroit Zooâs 7-year-old polar bear.

DETROIT, MI - Unlike at a zoo in Chicago, where a polar bear of all things had to be taken inside because of the extreme cold, the Detroit Zoo is not corralling any of its cold-weather animals indoors.

That's because the animals at the zoo in Royal Oak can go inside and outside on their own free will, explained Scott Carter, the facility's chief life sciences officer.

"The Asian wild horses were running around and being more active than I've seen them in a while," Carter said of conditions Monday at the zoo. Temperatures on Monday reached record lows, and a wind chill warning blankets the entire state through Wednesday morning.

Some of the cold-weather animals that visitors may see outside despite the frigid conditions include polar bears, snow monkeys, wolverines, bison, Bactrian camels and several species of Asian deer. "Beavers too, but they only come out at night," Carter said..

At Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, a polar bear was taken inside to a climate-controlled area, DNAInfo.com Chicago reported. Unlike its peers in the Arctic, the polar bear at the Chicago zoo never developed a thick layer of blubber for the winter months, a zoo spokesperson explained.

Carter said that cold weather animals at the Detroit Zoo have the option of being outside or can go to indoor areas with radiant heat.

"We’re watching the animals and ensuring what the animals need at all times, but in these extreme conditions we need to pay a little more attention to our staff and facilities," Carter said, adding that employee safety and ensuring proper building maintenance has been a priority.

The zoo remains open with its regular hours of business this week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Zoo spokeswoman Patricia Janeway said attendance had been sparse on Monday.

The light attendance is clearly a byproduct of the rough weather conditions, though. Last week the Detroit Zoo said it saw more than 1.3 million visitors in 2013, the most since 1997.

David Muller is the business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.