We finally have a photo of little Skipper Bear in which he is (almost) visible!  He was one of the bears who moved yesterday; he is now in an outdoor Acclimation Pen where he has more space, places to climb, and best of all – he can see outdoor sights and smell the smells.  Curator Greg got a picture of Skipper up on the platform in his pen. Skipper had to climb up to get there, and he did so with no problem.  He also climbed back down to get to his food.  Skipper is still partially hidden behind a log, but we can get a pretty good look at him.

Skipper Bear hides behind a “tree” in his pen.

Just to remind you how very tiny and fragile he was, here is a photo taken on February 6th when he arrived, weighing just 8 pounds.  Now he weighs three times that much!

No one was sure if Skipper Bear could live through the first night at ABR.

He is continuing to eat very well, and is climbing and doing all the bear things he can within the pen.  Soon he will have more room and will really be outdoors.

Julius Bear has been in Wild Enclosure #4 for a couple of days now, and is getting along very well indeed.

Julius Bear is liking his new location in Wild Enclosure #4.

He is active in the enclosure.

Julius Bear climbs a tree in the enclosure.

In another Wild Enclosure, Acorn Bear is looking healthy and getting plump.

Acorn Bear .

Here is a view of Wild Enclosure #1, showing six of the eight bears in that enclosure.

Six of the yearling bears in Wild Enclosure #1.

As we can see, these little bears are busy foraging and eating.  It seems that they are going to skip the hibernation phase for this year, which is not surprising since they were so much in need of food.  We hope that when they are released into the wild there will be a better food supply than there was last year.