A few days ago, our threesome, Bennie, Jerry, and Carrie, stepped out of the acclimation pen and into the Wild Enclosure!  This was a big step for them, and is the last move they will make before their ultimate release back in South Carolina.  These photos show their first introduction to the truly natural habitat where they will spend the next few months really learning to be wild bears.  There will be no more human contact, even with the curators.  The cubs’ food will be thrown over the fence to scatter about, so they have to forage for it.

Jerry was the first cub out

He started to explore right away.

He urged his siblings to come out, too.

Three cubs forage for peanuts, thrown by curator.