Today we have good news about 14-month-old Summitt Bear, the yearling at ABR.  Since he has been in the Wild Enclosure for the last week or so, he had not been seen climbing a tree, but was always hidden in the undergrowth or at the base of one of the trees.  Curator Coy, after consulting with Dr. Ramsay at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, made plans to return Summitt Bear for a recheck, so see if there was a physical problem preventing his climbing.  But on April 19th, Summitt climbed!

The climb seemed to have been triggered by the sound of the Havahart Trap being readied for his capture.  Summitt said “no, thank you, not again,” and climbed a tall tree in the enclosure.

The arrow points to Summitt’s position in the tree.

A zoom lens lets us see the little yearling better.

Just to make sure the curator saw him climb, Summitt climbed down the first tree and up a second tree.

He is just as high in this tree as he was in the first one.

And here is another closer shot with a zoom lens.

There is Summitt in his second tree

After all that climbing, a little bear gets tired.

Summitt hangs out in the tree. He looks comfortable.

After a few minutes, Summitt was napping in the tree.

Summitt Bear seems to be making good progress and any concerns about his ability to climb are a thing of the past.  Now all the curators need to do is keep out of his way, maintain their distance, and let him go about the business of becoming a healthy wild bear.

Over in the Cub Nursery, the little cub, Otto Bear, has had his breakfast, his pen has been  cleaned out and he has access to both sides of the pen.  Time for him to take a nap, too.

Otto Bear had his breakfast and is taking his morning nap.

And thus our two little bears spend another day at ABR.  It’s always interesting to see what they will do next.