Bear News – JUNE 2025

June 15th, Bear News

Great news, Tasha Bear got on the scale and she weighs 328 lbs! Tasha is doing a great job so far this year.

Lucky bear moved into the 400 range being at 401 and Holly is now weighing 255 lbs.

On June 1st of 2024 the bears weights were: Lucky 415, Holly 240 and Tasha 331.

At this time last year the bear care staff began focusing on weight management for our bears. A nutrition plan was established throughout the remainder of the summer.

During (my) hibernation in Michigan, I further researched zoo nutrition, exclusively the Minnesota Zoo. We worked closely with the materials and came up with a plan that would fit our bears needs because they are fed every hour. This plan included caloric intake per feeding and pounds of food per day.

Our bears are provided with the proper vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs and sugars that they require. A black bear‘s diet in this area of the U.S. is around 10% animal protein. We feed the bears a maintenance plan bear chow specifically for large mammals. Mimicking what the wild bears are eating is a huge task for captive wild bears but I do what I do to supplement with essential nutrients. Aside from the maintenance chow and the variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs our bears receive, they also take fish oil and Lucky takes glucosamine. 

Along with the nutrition aspects we also watch behavior. We want our bears to be active. Climbing, foraging, swimming and wrestling are part of a bear‘s daily routine. There are also occasional chases between Holly and Tasha. This is all part of expected behavior that we look for in our bears.  The not so wanted behavior are the territorial squabbles between Holly and Tasha; but it’s all a normal part of their day.

Each week I go over weights and their menu for any changes I need to make. A new word that I learned in all of this process is ‘Phytonnutrients’, which are found in all plant foods. A neat name for antioxidants. I ask that you bear with us as we traverse through our first full summer using the new nutrition plan.

Also, within the enclosure the bears can easily forage on clover and ryegrass. We re-seed on a monthly basis so new sprouts are always coming up. Clover and ryegrass provide crude protein, vitamin C, iron, dietary fiber. Ryegrass has calcium and phosphorus too. These two grasses contain digestible nutrients grown in the enclosure. Soon, the raspberries and woodland strawberries will ripen. There is also sarsaparilla, bunchberry, serviceberry, and beaked hazelnut growing in the enclosure.

I talked last week about enrichment and how important it is to keep our bears mentally stimulated. This is also part of their daily nutrition plan. All in all I want healthy happy bears, and as you participate in sending foods from our wishlist we achieve that together.  Amazon wishlist:https://bear.org/support-us/amazon-wishlist-2/

Coming up the Bears Half birthday June 24-26, for voting, the bears will get their piñata on June 27 during 12:00 enrichment.

Thank-you for all you do,

Sharon Herrell, Sr. Bear Keeper