We are glad to report that Hawkins Bear, the yearling who was hit by a car and admitted to ABR on June 6th, is making progress.  The curators are still guarded in their expectations, as it is very obvious that Hawkins is in pain.  He doesn’t climb down from his platform in the Acclimation Pen and food that was left there was not touched.  He stays put,  moving slowly when he does change location on the platform.  In our last post we showed photos of Curator Janet’s very inventive method of lifting his food to him, using a dumb waiter fashioned from a plant hanger and cable.

A hopeful sign is that he sat up straighter than he had before and huffed when Janet approached, expressing his wild bear distaste for humans.

Hawkins Bear sits up on his platform. He is huffing like a bear should.

Meanwhile, the two cubs in their Acclimation Pen are are becoming somewhat finicky eaters.  They rejected the Mazuri Bear Diet pellets by leaving them in the bowls.  This is not acceptable because the pellets have vital nutrients to help the cubs grow and to keep them healthy.  So the curators must try different strategies to encourage them to eat those, and not just the fruits that they favor.

Otto and Rollo Bear play up on their platform.

They must learn to eat all the foods that the curators provide.

Much like teaching small children to eat what’s good for them, the curators must teach the cubs to eat what they need to make them grow strong.