A smiling, playful three-month-old polar bear cub has made its public debut at the Buffalo Zoo in western New York.

The fluffy white cub was introduced yesterday as the zoo announced the next phase of fundraising for a new 18 million US dollars polar bear exhibit.

About four million US dollars is still needed.

The Buffalo Zoo says it is one of only two zoos in North America to have polar bear births in 2012.

The cub is still too small to exhibit but she is visible via closed-circuit television at the zoo on weekday afternoons.

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