In our last post we reminisced about Juniper, Indigo, and Lavender, aka the Rainbow Triplets and recalled their lives, adventures and shenanigans during their 5 months at ABR. Today we’ll show the workups of the cubs, who went through the final stages of the process one at a time on January 12th. First up was Juniper.
Juniper goes to the release staging ares, where all is in readiness.As always, the eyes are covered to prevent drying out, since immobilized bears can’t blink.Curator Matthew measures the big cub.Juniper weighed a whopping 123.8 pounds! A big bear!A big foot for a big bear.Curator Tom takes a print of Juniper’s foot. This is the last step before he is loaded into the transport carrier.
Next to the release staging area is brother Indigo.
He’s a big cub, too. As big as Juniper? We’ll see….Indigo was chilled, so a warming pad was applied to heat his body.Blood samples were taken for the record.Indigo was almost as big as his brother at 122 pounds.Just like his brother, Indigo has a good set of teeth.And he, too, has a big foot to take him into the wild.A footprint is taken.Into the transport carrier he goes.When he is awake, he’ll be ready to leave, but the Triplets were to be released together, as siblings usually are.
The last of the triplets is the female, Lavender.
Lavender is carried to the staging area.Curator Janet holds Lavender’s head to stabilize it.Not surprisingly, Lavender was not as heavy as her brothers. She weighed 102.2, a very healthy weight for a female cub who is almost a yearling now.Another healthy mouth with a good set of teeth.Lavender’s foot is bigger than Curator Janet’s hand!Curator Tom takes Lavender’s footprint.Lavender is carried out to the transport carrier. Time to go!In the transport carrier, Lavender wakes up. She is ready to go home!
The Rainbow Triplets were ready to leave ABR. They had a good stay and have thrived under our care. We wish them healthy, happy, and safe lives back in the wild where they belong. Remember, Triplets, stay away from humans and anything human-related! Good-bye and good luck!
