Brown Bear Changes
Posted at 9:36 am January 20, 2010 by Hali Anderson
Blackie
What happened to the grizzly bears?
If you’ve been to the San Diego Zoo recently and walked down Center Street, you may have asked one of these questions while standing outside of the brown bear grottos. I can assure you that all three resident brown bears—Blackie, our 25-year-old Manchurian brown bear, and 3-year-old grizzly bear brothers Scout and Montana—are all doing very well and are present and accounted for!
Starting December 1, we changed our management of the three brown bears in an attempt to give them more space, more attention, and more opportunities for enrichment. After months of planning and doing a few exhibit modifications, we removed the dividing door between the two bear exhibits and started the bears on a daily rotation. This means that at any given moment either Blackie or Scout and Montana are enjoying both exhibit spaces while the other(s) will be lounging in the six interconnected bedrooms behind the exhibit. Depending on what time of day the rotation happens, there is even a chance to see all three bears in one day. This new system has been a big hit for the bears and hopefully gives Zoo visitors an opportunity to witness more bear natural behaviors as our bruins enjoy the larger space.
Grizzly brothers Montana, left, and Scout
As the grizzlies are growing into bigger and more confident bears, I would eventually like to give the three bears the opportunity to see each other face to face through a safe, perforated door. This would take place in the back bedroom area where we can monitor the interaction and make sure neither set of bears is negatively affected. Currently, when all three bears are shifted into the bedrooms for exhibit cleaning, they have an entire empty bedroom between them, what we refer to as a “buffer room.” This allows each of the bear groups to feel safe and comfortable while in back at the same time.
When one set of bears is being held in the bedrooms on their off-exhibit day, they are given all kinds of fun enrichment that they aren’t usually allowed to have out on exhibit: cardboard boxes, shredded paper, magazines and phone books, and colorful plastic toys. And a bonus to spending time in the bedrooms is that there are more opportunities to hang out with their keeper of the day as he or she busily works in the back area. This is great keeper enrichment as well!
The other nice thing about the brown bear change is the flexibility it offers the keepers in caring for the bears. As Blackie approaches his 26th birthday in March, his elderly body may at times prefer to rest more in the bedrooms. And our young and rambunctious Scout and Montana may need more time on exhibit to burn off energy. We can now do this without creating an empty exhibit.
Stay tuned for future posts highlighting our brown bears and their adventures!
Hali Anderson is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Grizzly Bears: Terrible Twos?
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January 20th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Oh, that’s where Blackie was. Glad to know he’s OK.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Wasn’t there a big brown bear named Spanky???? He had the most adorable face.
Moderator’s note: There was indeed. Sadly, Spanky and his sister, Sheena, are no longer with us, but I’m sure they are frolicking together in bear heaven.
January 20th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Thank you so much for the update. I was at the zoo last Saturday and was concerned about Blackie knowing his age. Glad to hear he is doing well and was just in the back. I hope to catch him next time I visit.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
With all the space they have now, do the boys like to hang out together or go on their separate investigations?
January 20th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
THank you Hali for the update. I wondered where Blackie was when I visited last week. I got to see Scout and Montana a couple of times, but missed Blackie. Sounds like a piece of “bear heaven” right there at SDZ.
January 20th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Thank you for the update and for taking such good care of all the boys!
January 20th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
thank you for the update. i was wondering how the three were doing….next week i will be at the zoo and i look forward to seeing them. i am told blackie is one impressive looking bear.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Thanks for the update, Hali. Sounds like a good situation for all the bears. Speaking of Blackie coming up on his 26th b-day – can you tell us the average life span for a brown bear in captivity? I hope he has a lot of good years left.
Moderator’s note: Life span: 25 years in the wild, up to 40 years in zoos. Visit our brown bear fact sheet for more info.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
This blog reminds me of Chester, the beloved Alaskan Brown Bear who graced that area of the zoo several decades ago. I have an old faded photo of Chester taken back when I was a kid. He was quite a guy–whenever the tour busses stopped to introduce Chester, he’d stand up (oh so tall) and receive a treat from the bus driver.
Moderator’s note: A lot of us still remember (and miss!) Chester.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Yeah, last week I made a special trip down Center Street during my visit but I just thought they were sleeping. I also made kissy smooth noises for the lioness, she picked up her head, looked at some crows, and back to slumber. She naps in the exact same spot as a couple months ago. But I doooo love the bears.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
I was just there last week and got some great shots of the cubs. I hope to catch up with Blackie the next time around. It is always fun to see the cubs romp and chase each other! Thanks for the update!
January 21st, 2010 at 12:18 pm
This is good to know, I stop in to see them all the time. All the residents of bear canyon are pretty special.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Thank you for the blog. So the bears don’t hibernate. I look forwarded to is the bears when I go to the zoo. Keep up the great job.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:16 am
For all of you who love bears of all types: Go to the North American Bear Center’s Web site to view a beautiful black bear in the wild who is about to give birth to cubs. The North American Bear Center has installed a web cam in her den to capture this never-been-seen event. Go Lilly!
January 22nd, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Glad to hear the bears are doing okay.
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:21 am
Interesting!
January 24th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Do you have any female bears?? If not, then you aren’t part of the Brown Bear SSP, as far as I’m conserned. If I am wrong and there ARE female bears, then call me crazy.
Moderator’s note: Scout, Montana, and Blackie are our only brown bears at present and all three are males.