Alaska Fish and Game was contacted shortly after Binky's discovery, and arrangements were made to find a zoo in the contiguous United States.

Anchorage had a small zoo at the time, with an elephant that local grocer Jack Snyder had won in a contest and a few other donated animals.

Alaska Fish and Game employees came up with the idea of flying Binky to a number of the inland North Slope villages.

Binky was found orphaned near Cape Beaufort, on Alaska's North Slope, in late April 1975 by an oilfield worker.

Word eventually got around that a polar bear cub had been found, and communities near Nome as well as people in Anchorage petitioned ADF&G to let Binky stay in Alaska.

[10] In February 1979, young polar bear twins (Nuka, a female, and Siku, a male) joined Binky in his enclosure.

Drunken local teenagers approached the bear's enclosure, apparently hoping to swim in his pool, and one 19-year-old was hospitalized with leg lacerations after he was mauled.

[16][17][24][25][26] Binky merchandise was created, including T-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers, often adorned with the shoe photo or with the slogan "Send another tourist, this one got away".

[16][17][25][26] Local letters to the editor supported Binky during both incidents, most often arguing that the inherently dangerous nature of polar bears should be respected.

[17] The zoo's director, Sammye Seawell, criticized Warburton's actions in the Anchorage Daily News, saying "[s]he violated the rules and jeopardized the bear's life.

[27] In 1995, Binky's cagemate Nuka suddenly became sick with the parasitic disease sarcocystosis, dying from associated liver failure on July 14, a week after her symptoms began.