Bennie, Jerry, and Carrie Bear, our 3 SC cubs, are thriving in the Wild Enclosure, where they are learning to be wild bears.  Our creative curators, no longer “up close and personal” with the little bears, still manage to get some great photos of the trio.  Here are some recent photos that show them in the wild habitat.

Relaxed eating!

Help from hind foot.

Carrie Bear stood up to look around.  Bears in the wild stand to learn more about something that has caught their attention when they were on all fours.  They can better see, hear, or smell what interested them.  People often mistakenly assume that when a bear stands up it is getting ready to attack, but this is not true.  Cubs in the wild often stand to see over the tall grass or brush in their habitat.  It is this posture that makes bears seem so very “human” to us.  As plantigrade (flat-footed) walkers, like humans, bears are able to stand and balance on their two hind legs easily.  Sometimes they will even take a few steps before dropping down on all fours.

Carrie stands. Something has interested her.

She looks to her left.  One of her brothers seems curious.

Then she looks to her right.

Neither of her brothers seem to be curious about whatever it was that caught her attention.  They continue to eat.  As you can see from these images, the cubs are really growing!  Curator Coy estimates their weights at 35+ pounds now!