Extra Special Pets & Animals
May 16, 2009 6:45 pm US/Central
MN Zoo Makes Wild Demonstration For Bear Awareness
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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"Initially they were a little scared when they first came out, but they were attracted to it right away," said zookeeper Ben Sutton.
Minnesota Zoo
Camping season in Minnesota is almost here. The Minnesota Zoo staged a creative reminder this weekend for campers before they head to the great outdoors. Zookeepers let their three Russian brown bears explore a campsite in their enclosure.
"Initially they were a little scared when they first came out, but they were attracted to it right away," said zookeeper Ben Sutton.
Brown bears Sadie, Haines and Kenai were drawn to the mock campsite right away. Though they were cautious at first, it took only about a minute for one to go after a hanging bag of food and the others to tear up the tent.
In the tent, keepers placed a few apples and biscuits and in the sack, oranges and carrots.
"You could imagine how quickly they'd be attracted in the wild to a campsite if you had hot dogs or Doritos or something that smelled a lot stronger than the stuff we had," explained Sutton.
The keepers made some intentional mistakes setting up the camp for this demonstration. They not only left food inside the tent. The food hanging in the tree was only up about seven feet, well within the bears' reach.
"They're really driven by their nose, so they can smell food from a long ways off," added Sutton.
The grizzlies may look cute and playful, but the message during the event was "don't ever underestimate a bear." It's a message zoo visitor Ottar Schmitz heard loud and clear.
"It was pretty violent. A little bit intimidating. I'll be sure not to leave my tent anywhere a bear can get into it," he said.
Jane Fontaine has been watching these bears for the past year and taking pictures of them. She's observed the female and two males wrestling and climbing before, but nothing quite like this.
"Bears can look very harmless but these guys, check out their claws, check out their teeth. These are nothing to play with," she said.
The brown bears at the zoo weigh about 400 to 500 pounds. They're larger than the black bears native to Minnesota, but even a smaller bear could do a lot of damage. The zoo keepers say cabin owners should take similar precautions to campers.
In addition, they should pay special attention to odors from trash cans, which should be kept inside a garage or cleaned out with lime to remove odors.
Minn. Dept. of Natural Resources: Living With Bears
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