Week 6 - Bears and Junk

I was pretty bummed when I got here and the bear cubs were weaned off formula because I think it would have made my life if I could have bottle fed a bear cub (maybe next summer). But I am happy that I have gotten to watch them grow up and start to become real bears....it was pretty scary at first but I have been taking care of them for so long that it's hard to be scared after awhile...they're like upright, seriously dangerous puppy dogs :) :)

The highlight of the past couple weeks has been the completion of the Large Mammal Complex and the subsequent moving of ALL 16 bear cubs to this larger, open air enclosure. They were kept in smaller brick installations which were designed to house adult, injured bears or a single cub, etc. Here are some pics and you'll see why these became unsuitable for growing cubs.

this is a shot of the yearling bear that we housed for the summer

he liked dragging water tubs into his den :) and blocking his den door :(

Deep cleaning pens was not fun for anyone with no ventilation, it was suffocating work and stressful for all creatures involved

We'd enter the enclosure from a door (at the top center) after trying to get most (if not all) of the cubs into the back dens. If we couldn't get them all back there, we'd have someone on the roof yelling directions to the people entering the pen and someone working the door to the back den....it was an undertaking haha especially has the cubs got bigger and became less scared of us.

This is a pic after a nice deep cleaning and fresh straw....anyways as you can see, keeping 16 growing cubs in these pens was just not a great idea and so we were all extremely happy to see them moved outside. They seem to absolutely love it and love being together...eventhough there are the occasional frequent tussles (especially around feeding time) they are becoming real bears and learning to socialize etc etc. Here are some fun pics of them in their new enclosure...as you can see very open :)

Adorable but not quite cuddly

Open air means more curiosity lol

They loooove the hose and water in general. I absolutely adore getting to fill their tubs.

Cuz......... just look!!!

Look!!!!!

They love cuddling and sleeping in a huge pile!!!! ugghhh it melts my heart!!

Can't get enough of them......

Anyways, we're working out a lot of details of keeping them in there (feeding, cleaning, safety issues, etc) until the Second Phase is completed....check out the description in the link.... towers for observation....triple gate system...this thing is going to be SO legit. I'm so excited!! It will be sad to have less and less contact with them but it is what is best for them...and safest for us.

I can't describe how happy it makes my heart to see them everyday being little bears...it makes all the hard work and near bear attacks SO worth it. This is the kind of work I came here to do...I wanted to make a difference and it feels wonderful to get to be a part of something that has not been done before. As I head home to California (in just 2 weeks) I will always hold on to that feeling of being a part of something bigger than myself, something truely meaningful...it will keep me pushing through the stress of school and trips away from home and friends. I feel like, for the first time, I was meant for something big...very big and I'm going to figure out what exactly that is :) :)

Gnight all. More coming soon!