As promised, this post is about Piccola and Dash Bear and there is also some wonderful footage of Magnolia Bear, our LA yearling who will soon be returning home. It is a compilation of video clips from the enclosure cams, and it is very enjoyable and quite funny, too. We see the interaction between Piccola, the high-energy little cub and her enclosure mate, Dash Bear. Then we move to Magnolia’s enclosure to see her foraging, drinking, and finally playing at night like a cub. We can promise that you will be entertained as you watch the video. Click here to see what the bears do when behaving normally, day and night.
October 18, 2018
The Six-pack cubs usually sleep in a tangle of feet, legs and other body parts on the platform, also known as the “Cubby Dorm.” It has been interesting and surprising to see how they are able to continue to share the platform, even as they have grown so much larger.
How do they figure out who is who in this pile-up? Looks pretty crowded!
Amazingly enough, the next morning they emerge as chubby little individuals.
Three of the Six-pack starting to forage.
All the eating during hyperphagia makes them lethargic, and they may take a rest on the platform anytime during the day.
It is a fine place to chill out and rest between foraging sessions.
Magnolia Bear, our yearling from Louisiana, is about ready for her trip back to her home state. It won’t be long now.
Magnolia Bear is a beautiful, healthy yearling.
Over in Wild Enclosure #3, the other two cubs, Piccola and Dash, are doing their own thing. We’ll have a post about them next time.
October 16, 2018
We’ve said that the only job our cubs have to perform is to eat and grow chubby. They have really taken their job seriously, and as these photos show, the “chubbyfication” is coming along very well. Just like bears in the wild, the cubs have been in hyperphagia for several weeks, and as they eat and add weight they also become somewhat lethargic. They aren’t playing as often or as strenuously as they did just a few weeks ago.
Here are the cubs as they look now.
Five of the Six-pack cubs sleeping on their platform.
The sixth cub decided to sleep on the other platform.
Ruff Bear, snoozing.
Handsome Bosco Bear.
Cherry Bear has an apple.
Viola Bear is very plump.
Willow Bear stretches out on the grass.
One of the Six-pack climbed high in a tree!
Dash Bear in a thoughtful pose.
Caught on camera – Dash ate apples – 8 of them! – one after the other.
Though still the smallest, Piccola is doing her part to “chubbify.”
Piccola Bear rakes some goodies towards her, to eat them.
Finally, the yearling Magnolia Bear is seen on one of her daybeds.
Magnolia Bear is a beautiful yearling. She looks rather lethargic.
As you can see, all the bears are doing well. They will be ready for release before too much longer.
October 14, 2018
Piccola Challenges Ball; Six-Pack Cubs
Posted by kathyanne under Bear Feature Stories & PhotosLeave a Comment
Today we start with a photo that shows how Piccola Bear has finally won Dash Bear over. Whether it was a case of wearing her down, or whether Dash decided that it would be more fun, the two cubs in Wild Enclosure #3 are playing with each other!
Dash and Piccola Bear playing. Piccola is the one standing up!
Piccola Bear has earned the designation of Mighty Mouse, due to her spunk and persistence. Not only persistent about getting Dash to play, here is a sequence of photos that show her persistently attacking the Swingy Ball. If any cub can subdue the ball, Piccola can!
Piccola attacks the Swingy Ball.
The ball comes back at her.
Piccola takes on the ball again.
She seems to be staring down the ball – daring it to come back.
Taking a look at some of the Six-pack cubs next door, we see they are becoming very chubby.
Bosco Bear on the platform.
Two of the girls in Wild Enclosure #4. They are getting big.
Two of the cubs foraging. Their cabooses are round!
Since bears naturally carry a large amount of their weight in their hind ends, it appears that our cubs are bulking up nicely. They will be ready for release into the wild before we know it.
October 11, 2018
Our last post showed the food delivery system and how the Six-pack cubs foraged, even when some of their food went in their pool. This time we’ll visit the two cubs who live next door – Piccola Bear and Dash Bear. They still aren’t as friendly to each other as the Six-pack, but they have had less time to get acquainted.
Piccola asleep on the platform. She sleeps there alone so far.
Time to get the day started.
Piccola surveys Wild Enclosure #3. Until very recently, it was all hers.
Time to get to the day’s work – chubbifying!
First, a drink from the Cubby Pool. We can see that she is getting chubbier.
Piccola looks around. Perhaps she is looking for Dash.
Dash wakes up in her daybed, where it appears that she sleeps at night.
Piccola (left) and Dash (right). They are foraging closer to each other, but still keeping distance between themselves.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Cub friendships can develop slowly. There’s still a good possibility that we’ll see them together on the platform or in the pool.
October 10, 2018
As we have posted before, the food for the cubs is delivered in a unique, though low-tech way, by the curators who throw it over the fences. Here is Curator David delivering a meal to the cubs in Wild Enclosure #4.
Curator David throws food over the fence.
This time, his aim was not so good. A good bit of food fell into the Cubby Pool.
The six-pack of cubs, minus one, forage around the pool.
The “minus one” cub, Cherry Bear, decided to wait.
Viola and the other cubs are puzzled by the food in the water, but they want to eat.
They want those peanuts, but seem not to want to get wet.
One cub balanced on the safety log to get at the peanuts.
The amusing thing was that after avoiding getting wet while foraging, as soon as they finished eating, the cubs all went in for a swim! Go figure!
