The End of an Em-bear-assing amount of photos

You might think I would get tired of watching the bears.  But  I don't.  They are just so interesting to me.  The first couple of visits to the AWCC I was just in awe of them.  On subsequent visits I got to learn a little bit more about their histories.  And it is neat to be able to start seeing their personalities come through in the repeat visits.

Hugo is not alone in her enclosure at AWCC.  She shares it with a pair of younger, but much larger bears.  Joe Boxer and Patrone.  These are coastal brown bears, while Hugo is an inland brown bear, or Grizzly.  They have evolved differently....hard to imagine the grizzly is smaller than something, but it's smaller than the coastal brown, and those in turn are smaller than the Kodiak bear.

Joe Boxer and Patrone got their names from the corporations who sponsored their care at a charity event.  The brother and sister pair are now 11 years old.

Their story is a sad one, they were orphaned when young.  Their mom was looking for protein for her babies, and tracked and killed a moose.  That hunt took her into someone's yard, cubs in tow, and their shot her.  When the human loses a bear-human conflict, it is legendary and national news.  More commonly, quietly, legally, it is usually the other way around.  Here is the story of Joe Boxer and Patrone.

In the town of Willow, a brown bear sow killed a moose calf in a resident’s backyard. The man was afraid that the bear might try to attack his dog, so he killed the sow not knowing that she had cubs (now known as Joe Boxer and Patron). In Alaska, killing a bear in defense of life or property is legal. Once he saw the two cubs at the top of a very tall and skinny birch tree, he called the area wildlife biologist to notify him of the situation.

Daring Rescue Saves Cubs’ Lives!! The biologist, who happens to be a former gymnast, daringly climbed to the top of the skinny tree and grabbed the smaller male cub by a rear leg, holding on to the tree with the other hand. He climbed down and lowered the cub into a fish net. The second cub was more of a challenge. She was a large female cub and acted aggressively. The biologist climbed to the top of the tree, injected her with a sedative then grabbed her by the scruff. As he began to climb down, the skinny birch tree began to bend and crack. The tree bent all the way over, delivering the biologist and the cub safely to the ground!

So now they hang out at the Alaska Conservation Center.  This guy is a foodie, and he comes to the viewing deck about half an hour before feeding time every day in anticipation of his 20 pound salmon.

He sits and waits patiently on his big furry butt, feet stretched out showing his little...er big...padded bear feet.

I can't quite be sure which is Joe Boxer and which is Patrone yet.  Joe Boxer is the male and slightly larger, Patrone is the female.  Joe Boxer and Hugo don't always get on quite so well...I have seen him chasing her...but she is faster!  But at naptime, she sneaks over closer to them to sleep, so they must do ok after all.

The siblings pictured above.

What a beautiful big bear!!  This is probably Joe Boxer.

All three have the dark around the eyes, .

And here we have someone anxiously waiting for their salmon dinner.

The old adage for bears in the wild is that a fed bear is a dead bear.  Once bears learn that humans or urban areas are easy food sources, they will return, and inevitably someone will be afraid for the safety of person, child, or pet, and shoot that bear.  At the Conservation Center, it's one of the only places where you can say a fed bear is a happy bear.

Unless you are a fat little black bear, who gets fed one hour before the brown bears.  This guy reminds me of my fat cat Aiden.  He just ate...but was lurking about for brown bear feeding as well, just hoping someone throws the fish over the wrong side of the fence.

He won't get hungry in hibernation, that's for sure!

With a bit of resignation, he realizes he is not going to get fed twice, you can almost see the transition from hopeful to disappointed on his face.

Unable to watch his neighbours eat their dinner, he saunters off to a favorite hillside spot to have a nap and dream bear dreams.

Have a good nap little bear!

And that's it!  The May photos are now caught up!

Labra-bear-dles

I think we have all heard of the Labradoodle -- mostly because it's one of the rare words in the English language that is fun to say.  The Labradoodle is a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Standard Poodle.  The purpose of the cross breed was to come up with a hypoallergenic guide dog, for people who need assistance dogs but are allergic to the dander.  It worked, but the unexpected outcome was that they are ridiculously cute and everybody knows what a Labradoodle is!

As I watched the black bears at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, I got to thinking they were a lot like big puppy dogs.  That statement may get some people riled up because bears are not at all like dogs, they are 300 pound carnivores that need to be respected in the wild. However, I think sometimes we get caught up in the fear of bears and miss out on the fun of bears.  You should not assume a bear to be friendly or approachable (nor should you assume the same of any dog).  You should however consider that bears are wonderful, lively, intelligent creatures with a full range of lovable characteristics and that they are not just out to eat you.  In general, a black bear will run from you, they tend to be more afraid of you than you are of them.

I decided to nickname this guy the Labra-bear-dle.  It was a hot day so his tongue was out, and I think he is ridiculously cute from my safe perch on the bear viewing deck.

I believe this is Kuma.  I am certain I have seen 2 black bears at the Conservation Center, but their website only tells the story of one.  Here is the story copy and pasted from their site https://www.alaskawildlife.org

Kuma is a male black bear that was brought to AWCC in May 2002, weighing only three pounds. He was found alone in a hole in a backyard in Trapper Creek, AK. The homeowner was putting in a septic system and when the mother bear passed by, the cub fell in and was unable to climb out. When the cub was discovered, the sow was nowhere to be found. One of Kuma’s favorite hangouts at AWCC is high up in the cottonwood trees. He spends hours napping comfortably in the high elevation and doesn’t appear to be bothered by heavy rain or high winds!

He has sure grown a lot from those 3 pounds and likely close to that 300 lb range that black bears can get to.  A happy and healthy weight for a bear,since they sleep all winter and live off fat stores.

Kuma's enclosure has a hill to climb, a little valley, a fence where he can see but stay safely away from the much larger grizzly and brown bears, and a thicket of alders where he can go an nap the afternoon away, hidden from view of the tourists if he wants.  He also has a snug little den where he often retreats after afternoon feeding, and of course where he spends the winter.

Black bears are shy, and on this day, there were a couple of shrieking hyperactive kids, not upset kids, just bad kids who liked to scream at the animals, which seemed to bother Kuma quite a bit.  The parents didn't do anything to correct the disruptive behavior, even after parks staff came over and stood nearby saying he was showing anxious behavior and was upset by the noise, which bothered me quite a bit.  A little respect for the bears and bystanders would have been appreciated.  I started having uncharitable thoughts about what the bears should be fed that day, so we were all glad when the noisy family moved on, most especially Kuma.

Here is Kuma looking out at his fans in the long afternoon sunlight.  All the activity of the day made for a tired bear.

He headed over to his little den.

Kuma gave us one last look before heading inside for an afternoon nap.  Feeding is at 3:30 so he would be back out soon enough!