Andrzej Kruszewicz, the director of Warsaw Zoo, said: “The decision to send the polar bears to Prague Zoo has been taken by us in agreement with the species coordinator and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).”

He continued: “Initially the twins will stay together, but later one will likely remain while the other will be sent elsewhere.”

The zoo, said Kruszewicz, had little choice given that the pair had not found suitable mating conditions in Warsaw.

The urgency to find a mate has been expedited by the knowledge that the future of polar bears appears so bleak. With climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps threatening the species, the race is on to rescue the marine mammal from possible extinction.

Named Aleut and Gregor, the twins were born in Germany in 2010 and brought to Poland in 2013.