Bear # 205, nicknamed Woody, arrived at ABR after being found hanging around a dumpster at an elementary school.  Woody is a yearling, recently dispersed by his mother during the “family breakup” time, when mother bears chase their cubs away.  They are about to come into estrus and will be attracting the attention of males who want to mate with them.  This would not be a good time for their cubs (now yearlings) to remain close to their mother, so they are sent on their way.

Woody is a good weight – 58 1/2 pounds, so his mother was a very good mom.  But his problem was that the berries (soft mast) are not ripe yet, and there isn’t much food available.  His wonderful nose led him to the garbage odors in the dumpster.  TWRA officers brought Woody to ABR for some “re-wilding” training, until the soft mast is available.  Meanwhile, they hope that being in our Wild Enclosure with natural foods to eat will re-educate him in the ways of a wild bear.  We have had yearlings in this predicament before and have successfully retrained them, through our hands-off methods.  We hope that Woody will respond in the same way and will be ready for his second chance in just a few weeks, when berries are ripe.

Meet ABR Cub#205 – Woody Bear:

Woody Bear

Handsome Woody.

It’s easier for a curator to get a photo of a bear in the Wild Enclosure.

There are peepholes in the blinds that allow the curator to take a photo without being seen.  The first thing Woody did in the Wild Enclosure was to climb a tree – very typical!

Woody Bear climbs a tree.

He looks around his new, temporary habitat.

It probably looks very much like what he was used to as a cub.

After a few minutes he comes down to explore his new digs.

We won’t have Woody Bear with us for long, but we hope he will do well and thrive until his release.