ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska wildlife center has shipped off a big package — a 2-year-old male Kodiak brown bear that’s headed for a wildlife park in Sweden.

Tom Yeager is operations director at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center at Portage. He says the bear named Taquoka was safely sedated, loaded into a specially made crate and sent on his way Wednesday. His destination is the Orsa Bjornpark, which has been readying a new enclosure for him.

The young bear was rescued from Kodiak Island in November 2010 when his mother was killed. He has lived at the wildlife center since then. Lead intern Erin Leighton says it’s like saying goodbye to a family member.

The departing bear had shared an enclosure with a 2-year-old female brown bear rescued at a similar age and time. She escaped in early April and has not been found.

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