ABR has designated January 22nd as our cubs “official birthday,” because the date falls in the middle of the time period (mid January to mid February) when black bear cubs are born.  Therefore, today we celebrate their 13-month anniversary.  All of our twenty-seven yearling bears are having their 13-month anniversary today, whether they are the larger bears like Herbie, Pumpkin and Gamble or the smallest of our bears, whose photos we feature here.

Bear #250, Cecilia Bear, is a feisty little one.  Having lived in the wild until a week ago, she makes no bones about her dislike for the human curators.  She huffs, blows, and bluff-.  charges when the curator comes by.  She does enjoy the food that is left, however, and is eating very well.

Cecilia Bear huffs, blows, and stamps to let the curator know she doesn’t like humans.

To reinforce the message, Cecilia gets up on a log in her pen to make herself seem larger and more fierce.

Skipper Bear hides from the curator when his meal is delivered.  If he could, he would climb a tree, but since he’s in a pen and doesn’t have the strength to climb and get away, hiding is a good option.

There is his food, but where is Skipper? He’s hiding way back in the corner.

He doesn’t want to be seen.

The curator got into another position and was able to capture Skipper’s image.

He is still so very small and fragile, that we can understand his choice to hide.

We are glad to see that little Bailey Bear is making progress since she was released into the Wild Enclosure.  She does have trees to climb if she needs to get away.

Bailey is a cautious little bear. She stays near a tree for safety.

If she hears a slight sound or sniffs something she’s unsure of, she gets into tree-climbing mode.

Bailey is ready to climb, if needed.

She starts to go up the tree.

She pauses in her climb to look around. Maybe there is no threat after all.

All the yearlings – small and not-so-small – are doing well.  They have reached a thirteen month milestone.  Hopefully in a couple more months they will be ready for release into the REAL wild!