The North American Bear Center will offer two volunteer Bear Keeper Classes in 2012. The first will be on April 27th, 28th, & 29th, 2012. The second class will be on June 8th, 9th, & 10th, 2012. This Bear Keeper class may provide you with an opportunity to be a volunteer Bear Keeper. However, attending the class does not guarantee you the chance to have direct contact with the bears. It will give you the basic information to make this possible, but going into the enclosure with the bears is dependent on attitude, ability, knowledge, and on the bears’ reactions to you. If you are not selected as a volunteer who can safely go into the enclosure without stressing the bears, many other volunteer opportunities are available, such as picking wild foods, measuring bear food, logging bear activity, etc. 

The classes are being offered to people meeting the criteria listed below AND that are interested in volunteering on a pre-scheduled basis matching availability with Bear Center needs. Submission of application does not guarantee acceptance to a class. Each class is limited to 20 people with a minimum of 10. 

All applications for both classes must be received by NABC before March 15th, 2012.

Notification of 'Class Participants' will be sent out by April 1st, 2012.

Please do NOT send payment before receiving acknowledgment of acceptance to the class from BearKeeper@bear.org The cost of the class will be $100 – Pre-Paid which includes admission to the Bear Center during the class. Payment will be due upon acceptance to the class. A Waiver of Responsibility must be signed upon acceptance to the class.

CRITERIA

1. You must be physically agile/athletic (able to walk/run over uneven ground, bend & move quickly, able to walk for a minimum of 1 hour through the woods and over rough terrain, etc)
2. You have to be able to maintain long periods of quiet and calm.  Bears do not respond well to quick movements, loud voices or loud noises.
3. You have to follow rules provided by the instructor or other designated staff.
4. You will not be able to attend the class if we can easily detect any odors such as perfume, cologne, after shave, hair spray, cigar or cigarette smoke, etc.  Bears need to smell you with no cover-up odor.  In addition some staff members are allergic to some of these substances.
5. You have to participate and complete the one (1) hour field trip.
6. You must provide your own lodging, meals and transportation.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND APPLICATION CONTACT bearkeeper@bear.org