On May 11, 2008, Blackie, the San Diego Zoo’s Manchurian brown bear, stepped out of his bedroom area into a twilight zone (see Hali’s previous blog, Brown Bear Welcomed). There to greet him was a tent, a cooler, some hiking boots, and a fire pit. What a surprise for this 24-year-old brown bear who had lived his whole life in managed care!

With his nose pointed up in the air and rapidly sniffing, he ambled over to the tent and gave it a swift, hard swipe with his powerful paw. The tent didn’t collapse, but it did shake and flutter from the punch. He then smelled the ice chest and made it his next target; with a quick pop of the top, he retrieved the fish waiting inside. After consuming his prize, Blackie turned and saw that there was a HUGE crowd of onlookers. He looked up and saw an even larger crowd gazing at him from the road above. At this, he decided not to venture toward the fire pit where our campers had left their marshmallows and more fish, but instead made his way to the back of the exhibit, where he settled behind his waterfall and stared back out at the crowds. He seemed to be finished with his campsite destruction, but the point was made!

And what was the point of this? For our last day of the Bear Awareness Days event this year, we wanted to do a demonstration of how NOT to leave a campsite in bear country. Having acquired Scout and Montana, our grizzly bear cubs (see Hali’s blog, Brown Bear Boys), from the wild due to their camp-raiding escapades, it gave us the idea. We originally wanted to use the cubs for this project, but since we moved Blackie into the exhibit next door shortly before the event, we were forced to change gears. Blackie’s presence made quite an impact on little Scout and Montana, making them very nervous about the 900-pound big, black “monster” next door. It took our staff a lot of time and patience, along with lots of positive reinforcements, to convince Scout and Montana that Blackie would not be joining them! The camping gear would be one more thing for the cubs to have to get used to, and we felt that we had already mixed up their world enough for the time being. So, the decision was made to use Blackie as the “actor” and attempt to tie in the theme of Scout and Montana’s eventual removal from the wild due to finding food at campsites.

With that decision behind us, preparations were made for the event. Our veterinary staff requested that we introduce the camping items to Blackie prior to doing the presentation to make certain he was not going to injure himself. We received a generous donation of camping equipment from our friends at REI and began introducing the items to Blackie in his back bedroom area. He destroyed the first tent by slicing his claws across the front. He ignored the ice chest until we put something in it; he started to chew on the hiking boots but didn’t consume them. This “dress rehearsal” was enough for the vets to okay the presentation.

Next, we needed a couple of human actors to pose as campers. Two teammates stepped up to the plate and we formed a quick skit for the event. I narrated from the front of the exhibit while our human actors were in the exhibit (without Blackie, of course!) pretending to be irresponsible campers. I pointed out that the first mistake made was in placing their “campsite” next to bear tracks and a stream. Campsites should never be made where bears and other wildlife will frequent. I also mentioned that the campfire was less than the required 100 yards away from the tent. Our campers roasted marshmallows and left them on the fire, ate cereal and then threw the box into the tent for storage, dumped out a leftover fish meal near the fire pit, and then left for a “hike.”

I discussed how food should always be placed in bear-safe containers and that any leftover food needs to be burned. We then released Blackie to the exhibit to show what a bear can and will do in a campsite containing food. Since bears have about six months to gain enough fat reserves to carry them through a long hibernation, they will sniff out food from miles away. Once bears, as in the case of Scout and Montana, learn that human camps can contain food, often high in protein and carbs, they may seek out these areas and have unfortunate encounters with people. This can lead to the bear’s removal from the environment or euthanasia. To help protect our precious bears from this fate, we must all follow the camping-in-bear-country rules. Bears naturally want to avoid people. However, there are many factors, such as oil drilling that disrupts bear foraging spots, or global warming that kills off a prominent source of food like white pine seeds that can force bears to seek new food sources. It is very important that bears learn other natural food sources and not look toward campsites or other human-occupied areas; otherwise, the results will be disastrous for the bears.

All in all, the mock campsite event went well with a combination of some visitor entertainment and well as an enriching day for our friend, Blackie. If you weren’t able to make it to this year’s event, stay tuned for next year’s Bear Awareness Days as we hope to repeat the presentation. Hopefully, barring any snags, we will be hiring Scout and Montana for the bear roles. Should be a fun time for all!

Hali Anderson is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Listen to an iZoofari Chat with Hali as she talks about Blackie’s first day in Bear Canyon”¦

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