In our last post we showed you Otto and Rollo Bear being lazy in their Wild Enclosure while Apollo Bear was pacing in his Acclimation Pen. The curators conferred with the vets at UT and were given the go-ahead to let Apollo out into a Wild Enclosure to avoid further stress on the cub. Rather than introducing Apollo into Wild Enclosure #3 that Otto and Rollo have resided in and consider to be their “property,” it was decided to tempt the two of them to enter Wild Enclosure #4, which would be neutral ground. This would give all three of the cubs a fresh start in a new space. Here is how it worked out.
The noise that got their attention was the gate between their enclosure and Wild Enclosure #4 being opened and treats (grapes) being scattered to form a trail.
Apollo climbed down and foraged a bit on the ground.
The curators were very pleased that there were no problems. They had hoped the move and introduction of a third cub to the enclosure would go well – and it did! It will be interesting to see how the cubs react to each other in the days to come.