Published: June 05, 2008 02:35 pm            

Zoo Tales - June is Bear Month

Considering that the N.C. Zoo is celebrating bears each weekend in June at the park, it’s a great time for visitors to – okay, I’ll say it – “paws” and consider the zoo’s commitment to the conservation of bears.

The park’s five bears (one polar, two black and two grizzly) are a living tribute and reminder of that commitment. The arrival at the zoo in the winter of 2002 of two adult male polar bears marked a unique first for the zoo’s bear population. All the park’s bears were rescued bears – taken from environments in which the bears had been deemed “nuisance” animals (with dangerous consequences to the bears) or confiscated by wildlife officials from substandard conditions.

The zoo’s two grizzly bears, both males, were considered “nuisance” bears before they arrived, one in November 1994 from Wyoming and one in February 1995 from southwest Montana. Male nuisance bears are usually captured two times and relocated. However, if they are caught a third time, they are usually placed in zoos or euthanized. These two were fortunate that the N.C. Zoo had the space available for them. Others are not so lucky.

Female grizzlies fare a little better. Because they are vital to the breeding process, they are given more chances to remain in the wild.

Like many captive bears, the zoo’s two black bears were confiscated by state wildlife officials after being held illegally in unfit living conditions and arrived at the zoo in 1995. The bears were being held in a roadside menagerie in a 6 foot by 10 foot cage. The third black bear, no longer at the zoo, arrived after being labeled a “nuisance” bear in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park when it too often came into contact with park visitors.

Bears have lost much of their historical range (more than 60 percent in the case of the black bear), caused primarily by human encroachment. Black bears are highly intelligent and adaptable and have the capacity to live in close proximity to people. Unfortunately, this often leads to the needless killing of many black bears when their keen sense of smell causes them to naturally gravitate to potential food sources near humans.

The plight of the zoo’s one remaining polar bear came to national attention in November 2002 when U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials confiscated it, along with five other polar bears, from a traveling circus in Puerto Rico. The bears were removed from the circus when the owner was charged with violating the marine-mammal act by keeping the arctic animals caged in the Caribbean heat.

After being taken from the circus, one bear died while being transported to the United States, but all five of the others found new homes in American zoos, including the two that came to North Carolina. Unfortunately, one of the two polar bears that came to the zoo had to be euthanized in 2007 after exploratory surgery revealed extensive abnormalities that had kept him in constant pain and suffering, likely from years of neglect and malnutrition at the circus.

Visitors can daily view the zoo’s five bears, all in the park’s North America region. During bear month, polar bears will take center stage on June 7, grizzly bears on June 14 and black bears – along with the latest buzz on bees – throughout the weekend of June 21-22. Additionally, on that weekend, visitors can bring Papa Bear to the zoo to celebrate Father’s Day with an online discount admission.

On June 28, kids can bring their Teddy Bear to the zoo for a “check-up” by the zoo’s veterinary staff.

See more information on each weekend’s activities at the zoo Web site: http://www.nczoo.org/.



Tom Gillespie lives in Trinity and is a journalist and public affairs specialist at the North Carolina Zoo. For more information on the zoo’s plant and animal collections, special events and education programs, go to their Web site at www.nczoo.org

        

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