A pair of polar bears, a brother and sister named Klondike and Snow, who have lived together since their births in Denver in 1994, have been split up by allergies.

Snow had been suffering with chronic allergies at her SeaWorld Orlando home in Florida. She’s moved, for health reasons, to a new home in Tucson at the Reid Park Zoo, where the dry climate should help.

Klondike and Snow were the darlings of Denver back in 1995, before being shipped to Florida in November of that year. . The pair were abandoned by their mom, Ulu, and staff at the Denver Zoo raised the cubs after their birth on Nov. 6, 1994.

They’ve basked in the Florida sun since, but the pair are now split.

Snow, who weighs about 500 pounds, was shipped to Tucson. She arrived yesterday, under the guidance of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.

SeaWorld’s animal care team tried numerous treatments for Snow, but none seemed to provide long-term relief, the organization said in a media release.

Klondike will continue to make his home in Florida.

Meanwhile, the Denver Zoo has a pair of adult polar bears, Lee and Cranberry. It’s a long, slow process, but Denver’s two bears have been designated a “breeding pair” and local zoo officials hope to one day recapture the excitement that Klondike and Snow brought to the city.

By the way, Lee is the male, and Cranberry, the female.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com

