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Why do you take the babies away from their mothers? |
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We take the young (captive born) animals from their mothers for three reasons:
1) SURVIVAL RATE--In the wild, 40% of black bears do not see past their first year. Through careful breeding and management, we have a substantially higher survival rate at Bear Country. Once the mother starts moving her young, they are in danger of other adults in the area.
2) HUMAN CONTACT--Since we hand-raise our young wildlife, they are comfortable with humans. This makes managing them much easier and safer for our staff. If an animal were to get out of its enclosure, we could lure it back with food because they have no fear of humans (like "wild" animals do). Our animals associate their human neighbors with mealtime. The human contact also makes it much easier for us to tend to a sick animal and to administer veterinary care.
3) ANIMAL TRANSACTIONS--Our animals are in demand for zoos, wildlife centers, entertainers, movie studios, and animal casting agencies. This demand stems from the manageability of Bear Country wildlife. |
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Why do the bear cubs suck each other's ears? (Do they miss their mothers?) |
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The ear-sucking is a natural instinct for the young bears and they do it in the wild.
They use each others ears like pacifiers. This goes back to why we take the young from their mothers. In the case of bears, we leave them with their mothers for eight weeks--which is longer than people leave a litter of puppies with a female domestic dog. After we take the cubs, we have a group of ladies bottle feed them for another six weeks. When people visit us, they think the cubs in the Wildlife Center (babyland) are newborns. The cubs are always born in January. |
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How many bears do you have? |
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We have over 100 bears.
Bear Country is home to the largest privately owned collection of black bear in the world. |
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Do you sell your animals as pets? |
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Bear Country only sells animals to those who hold the proper state and federal licenses to obtain and raise exotic animals.
An individual with no experience or background in wildlife is not prepared for the commitment of raising a wild animal. Also, it is not fair for a wild animal to be used as a pet. |
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How do you round up to bears to move them? |
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We generally don't move them.
When we have to, we use trucks, four-wheelers, food, and a lot of patience. |
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How big is the grizzly on your premises? |
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We have 2 grizzlies, Tank and Cherokee.
Wild grizzlies weigh from 323 to 1,500 pounds and live 15-34 years. A grizzly has lived 47 years in captivity. Tank, our male grizzly, is 8 years old and weighs about 800 lbs. Our female grizzly Cherokee is 6 years old and weighs about 300 lbs. In 2004 we built them a new pen where visitors can get a better view of them and they have a pond and waterfall to play in. |
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Do you take animals out of the wild? |
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Bear Country animals are all captive-born and hand-raised.
By raising the animals at Bear Country we are able to socialize them with humans and train them to the electric fencing that keeps them in their enclosures.
The only time Bear Country is able to accept animals from the wild is when they are very young and orphaned. The young animals still have time to develop around humans and the other Bear Country animals. We have saved many orphaned animals from being destroyed by state wildlife agencies. |
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Are your animals tame? |
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Bear Country animals are captive-born and hand-raised, but they are by no means tame.
They are still wild and unpredictable. They can only be handled by Bear Country staff. In certain situations, these animals can actually be more dangerous than in the wild because they have lost their fear of humans. |
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How do you keep the animals in their enclosures with the gates open? |
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At each enclosure gate, there is what farmers and ranchers know as a "cattle guard".
The horizontal bars over a ditch keep hoofed stock (such as elk, moose, and sheep) in their pen. If they tried to walk over the guard their legs would fall through and get caught. The bears, however, are able to walk over the guard. So, we have added an electric cable running between the bars to keep them in their area. |
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