For the IR - 08/09/07

July 17 was a big night at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Two grizzly bears were about to leave their Helena home for a new home in Colorado Springs at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Emotions were mixed. One of the bears had been a resident for over a year, and the staff had grown quite fond of him. Yet they knew that the only options for troublesome grizzly bears are to find a new home in a captive facility or to be destroyed. The staff naturally had been working very hard to find a new home.

Often there is a long wait for a facility that can take just one grizzly bear. But this time, there were two grizzlies needing homes. The second had arrived at the Rehabilitation Center just last month.

Fortunately, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo agreed to take both bears. Unfortunately, they imposed a special condition: The two bears had to be able to live together.

This condition posed a big challenge for the staff. They would have to put two unfamiliar, unrelated, large male grizzly bears together. one weighed in at 300 pounds, the other over 200 pounds. If placed together, could they coexist? Would they fight and try to dominate one another? The staff rose to the challenge to find out.

First, they housed the two bears in neighboring cages for over a week. Their used bedding was exchanged between the dens daily so each bear could become familiar with the other's scent.

The next step was to lock one bear into its enclosure while allowing the other to approach the fence. Then, after two days of observing no aggression from the other bear, and with all precautions in place, the gates were opened between their pens.

Staff members held their breath. But to ther amazement -- and delight -- there were no charges, jaw-popping or huffs. Instead, like long-lost friends, the bears immediately broke into nonstop play. They played so hard in and out of their pool that the pool was in constant need of refilling.

The staff now felt assured the bears would coexist well at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. So on the evening of July 17, it was time to see them off on their journey to their new home.

As joyful as they were that their efforts had been successful, the staff found it difficult to let go. They said goodbye with a lump in their throats.

And the bears? The surely will miss their devoted caretakers -- dedicated people who worked so hard to give them a second chance at life.

According to a Chinese proverb, "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." The wildlife rebabillitators had learned much from these two bears -- new knowledge that will serve them well in their future efforts to rehabilitate Montana's orphaned, injured and troublesome wildlife.

Editor's note: The IR is publishing a series of articles about injured or orphaned animals rehabilitated at the Montana Wildlife Center.