INNISFAIL – They are a tiny bundle of energy and its high noon; time to leave a former wolf den for play.
On May 31, Serena Bos, head zookeeper at Discovery Wildlife Park, leaned into the opening of the den and repeatedly called for Otto and Charge, a pair of baby male black bears that arrived in town last month.
After a good minute of calling Bos gets up and leaves the opening of the den.
But seconds later both cubs scamper out and immediately follow the zookeeper.
Play time has finally begun.
Otto and Charge are not orphaned bruins from the wild, like the zoo’s current black bear Gruff who has been in Innisfail for the past 11 years. They were safely born at a facility in Idaho on Jan. 15.
“They are the first bears we have ever had that don’t have a horrible story. It’s nice in some ways because lots of times when the bears come in they have had a really negative past,” said Bos.
She added Gruff is one example of a “horrible story” as the bear's challenging early life included his mother being poached and the bruin was placed in several locales before arriving in Innisfail to become an “amazing ambassador” to educate the public on the horrors of poaching.
“But these two cubs came from a facility in the States where they manage a whole bunch of bears, and they are typically on birth control but the facility was choosing this year to allow their bears to breed for their own reproductive purposes,” said Bos. “When bears have babies you never know; they could have one or they could have six.
“And then we were asked, 'if they had extra males would we be interested?”
WATCH: Otto and Charge (Discovery Wildlife Park video)
The answer was a resounding yes, and Otto and Charge became official residents of Discovery Wildlife Park on May 22.
“They did take a few days to settle in,” said Bos, noting they immediately had special accommodations that were once the home for two of the zoo’s senior wolves. “They had actually dug a beautiful den that goes back 12 feet.
“It's really nice because the cubs can use that den for that security, just like they would have had with mum because black bears do have dens as well.”
Bos said the two young cubs are moved indoors into a zoo barn at night. They are currently being fed with a special homemade bear milk concoction.
In the meantime, Otto and Charge are doing so well at their new home they are already part of the zoo’s bear safety presentations.
“They're full of energy. They're a delight to watch. They're becoming amazing ambassador bears,” said Bos.
Bos said the zoo, which opened for the season on May 1, is hosting bear presentations in June at 1 p.m.
In July the presentations will be held at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.every day of the week.
Discovery Wildlife Park is open seven days a week this season until Sept. 30.
