September 7, 2008 - Black Bears

A couple of weeks ago Diana and I visited the North American Bear Center in Ely, MN. It’s fairly new, having just opened in May, 2007. They have a large outdoor enclosure where the three resident bears live. This is Lucky, the youngster of the group. He was born in January 2007 in Wisconsin. Some people took him from his mother’s den and planned to raise him as a pet. He got too big to handle, so in July 2007, he became a resident at the Bear Center.

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This is Ted, one of the adult bears at the center. Ted is a big boy, weighing in at 860 pounds. That probably makes him the largest Black Bear in Minnesota. In the fall of 2006, he weighed an estimated 950-1000 pounds, which possibly made him the largest Black Bear that ever lived. (The Center staff has Ted on a diet in order to lose some of his excess weight.) The third bear at the center is an adult female named Honey. She prefers being out of the limelight and stays back in the wooded area of the enclosure. We didn’t see her. Honey was born in 1996 and Ted was born in 1997. They were raised together in captivity. When the center opened, Ted and Honey were the main attractions. To read more about them and the Bear Center go to http://www.bear.org/website/ .

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Here is another picture of Lucky romping around the enclosure. He’s a growing youngster and is very active and curious.

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Ted has a very mellow personality and has really befriended Lucky. Here’s a picture of them playing.

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Ted and Lucky are greeting each other. Or, are they singing a duet?

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