More Changes

Posted on   November 30, 2019
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Category  :  Bear Feature Stories & Photos

It’s quite a project, getting ready for cubby releases. Especially when there are several family groups that need to be released together. In the last post we showed how Boudreaux and Beignet were being introduced to their newly furnished Acclimation Pen. The curators “furnished” it with nice piles of straw that the cubs can use (or not) to make comfy beds. The choice of den sites will be up to them, but from now on there won’t be any food in the Acclimation Pen and the amount of food in the Wild Enclosure will be scaled back to mimic what would happen in the wild.

Boudreaux Bear has been visiting the Acclimation Pen. It seems that he recalls this place from early in his stay at ABR.
Boudreaux stands up to assess the pen and any changes.
He investigates the (empty) food bowl. That is a change he notices that may disappoint him.
We can imagine him saying to Beignet, outside the pen, “I wonder what happened to the food? This is no good!” And then he left.
Jessamine, our South Carolina cub, will spend the winter at ABR, at the request of the South Carolina DNR. She will move in with the LA cubs, Boudreaux and Beignet.
In the meantime, Jessamine and Dandelion explore Wild Enclosures #1and #2.

The gates between enclosures and Acclimation Pens are open to facilitate the separation of family groups into different spaces. For the cubs that will be released, the curators will place food in the Acclimation Pens, not the Wild Enclosures now, so they get used to entering the pen to eat.

Bluebelle and Bentley Bear wandered into Acclimation Pen #2.
Bentley seemed to be interested in the cinder block.
Bentley moves the heavy block. Bluebelle isn’t interested. She leaves.
One of the Triplets enters Acclimation Pen #3.
Pretty soon, all three of the Triplets are together in the Acclimation Pen. This will work well, since they need to be released together.

The cubs are now separated into their families, with Dandelion and Bentley in Enclosure/Acclimation Pen #1, Marigold and Bluebelle in Enclosure/Acclimation Pen #2, the Beary Triplets in Enclosure/Acclimation Pen #3 and the LA and SC cubs in Enclosure/Acclimation Pen #4, where they will spend the winter. Whew! What a project! Thanks to the cubs for their cooperation, unwitting though it may have been.