Periodically, our ABR photographer of record, Ken LaValley visits to take high-resolution photo portraits of bears that cooperate by being visible.  We have a few to share with you today.  You will see that these yearlings, who have been at ABR for a couple of months or so, have filled out and are looking much healthier than when they arrived.  Bears are programmed to put on weight, especially prior to hibernation, and if you go back to see what these yearlings looked like when they came to us as cubs, you will see that they have been busy doing just that.

Star Bear posed in a tree in Wild Enclosure 3.

Star arrived at ABR on January 18th, so she has made remarkable progress in a short time.  She is still very small, but she’s working to change that.

Beaufort Bear is in Wild Enclosure 1. He has grown quite a lot.

Beaufort arrived in mid-November, when he weighed just 15 pounds.  We can tell he weighs a good bit more than that now.

Linus Bear looks like he’s having a “bad fur day,” but he’s growing, too.

Linus weighed 16.5 pounds when he arrived in late November.  He has thrived since being at ABR.  Linus is also in Wild Enclosure 1.

Rufus must have been in one of the culvert dens, which are lined with cedar shavings.

Rufus weighed a mere 9 pounds when he was admitted in November.  He is also in Wild Enclosure 1.

As we said at the beginning of the post, bears do put on weight very easily when they have access to good quality food and when they don’t have to cover many miles in search of it.  All of our resident yearlings are still eating and gaining weight, so by spring they will be ready to return to their wild habitats.