Here are a few of the bears out in the Wild Side enclosure.  Someone suggested that perhaps this was a “class in tree climbing” but bears don’t really need instruction in that skill.  It is as natural to a bear as eating — in fact, one of the first things a mother bear teaches her cubs when she  brings them out of the den in springtime is about tree-climbing.

She particularly instructs them in scurrying up a tree on her signal and staying there until she signals them to come down.  This is for their safety (and, we might add, for her peace of mind) when she is out foraging for food herself.

It is amazing to see how quickly a small cub can get up a tree, often to a branch 30 or more feet off the ground.  They literally “run” up the tree, using front paws together and then back paws together in a hitching motion.