Squee! Baby Polar Bear Takes First Steps

In this ridiculously cute new video from the Toronto Zoo, a 2-month-old baby polar bear takes his first shaky steps.

Weighing just 1.5 lbs. (700 g) when he was born on Nov. 9, 2013, the cub has grown to 9.7 lbs. (4.4 kg), according to the zoo. Among his other recent milestones, the bear has started to teethe and grow more fur and whiskers; he's even started lapping up milk from a bowl instead feeding exclusively from a bottle, zoo officials say.

The polar bear will eventually join other ambassadors of his species in the zoo's Tundra Trek, an exhibit that hopes to raise awareness of climate change and conservation. Polar bears face threats like declining Arctic sea ice, oil development and pollutants in their natural habitats. The polar bear is listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, while in Canada and Russia the animals are listed as a species of special concern.

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Megan has been writing for Live Science and Space.com since 2012. Her interests range from archaeology to space exploration, and she has a bachelor's degree in English and art history from New York University. Megan spent two years as a reporter on the national desk at NewsCore. She has watched dinosaur auctions, witnessed rocket launches, licked ancient pottery sherds in Cyprus and flown in zero gravity. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.