Grizzly cubs - together!

Northwest Trek is celebrating five years since grizzly bears Hawthorne and Huckleberry first arrived at the wildlife park. To o-fish-ally mark the occasion, our community is invited to join special keeper chats on August 5 and August 6 at 1:30 p.m., where the bears will get special enrichment items like fish frozen in icy treats. Born in the winter of 2018, our grizzly bears were orphaned in the wild: Hawthorne in Alaska and Huckleberry in Montana. Neither would have survived without their mom. Cared for by local zoos, they came to their new Northwest Trek home in August 2018. When the …

To train any animal, you need their trust! A blood draw can be one of the most challenging behaviors – especially for a 478-pound bear – and one that has taken keeper Haley and black bear Benton nearly two months to achieve. When animals participate in their own healthcare, everyone wins! Watch as carnivore keeper Haley patiently works with 15-year-old Benton behind the scenes on blood draw training with a blunt syringe as a training device. Benton carefully presents his massive paw through a bear paw-sized opening in the training space as Haley coaches him and then uses tasty honey …

Black bears Fern and Benton are long-time residents of Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. And the veterinary teams at Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium have a long-standing history of joining forces. So, when it was time for the bears’ triennial wellness exams, Northwest Trek head veterinarian Dr. Allison Case invited Zoo intern veterinarian Dr. Cassidy Soehnlein to participate. The Exams Routine wellness exams are a critical component of animal well-being. With regular check-ups, the veterinary staff (veterinarian) can monitor the health of Fern and Benton. They can also act quickly if any concerns arise. Both black bears received …

There are plenty of signs of spring at Northwest Trek: skunk cabbage and red flowering currant are blooming, fern fiddleheads are unfurling, Oregon grape is blossoming, birds are chirping, and the grizzly “brothers” are waking up from their winter naps and becoming more playful every day. After being in a state of torpor (a form of hibernation) all winter, Huckleberry and Hawthorne can be seen playing and exploring in their forested habitat. “A stick in their habitat recently caught Hawthorne’s attention and he rolled around with it all day,” said keeper Carly. Carly says Hawthorne is the more excitable of …

Quick – what’s even better than a rambunctious grizzly bear splashing in a pool? A 180-degree view of him from a brand-new platform! Now over two years old, our grizzly bears Hawthorne and Huckleberry are bigger and more playful than ever. Last winter we took the false bottom out of their pool (put there to protect them when they were small) and they really enjoy splashing around in the full depth of seven feet. “Huckleberry loves the pool – he’s a real water bear,” comments keeper Jordan Bednarz. “But they’re both super playful with everything.” And the sand that was …

Taking a one-year-old for his physical check-up is not usually that difficult – unless, of course, he happens to be a 450-pound grizzly cub. Last week, Northwest Trek veterinarian Dr. Allison Case had not one but two enormous grizzlies to examine – so naturally enough, she made a house call. On Thursday morning it was Hawthorne’s turn. Huckleberry had had his check-up on Wednesday, and all went well. Now, he was out in the bears’ forested habitat, intently chewing an elk hide treat, while Hawthorne lay peacefully on a cot bed in their sleeping area, anesthetized for the exam. “We’re …

You could call them the “bear” necessities. Healthy teeth are pretty important when you’re a 423-pound black bear that eats seven pounds of food every day. So when Northwest Trek Wildlife Park veterinarian Dr. Allison Case saw that Benton, one of the park’s two black bears, had a fracture in an upper canine, she decided it was time for a root canal. Just a little bare “During his regular physical check-up last month, I had the opportunity to closely examine his upper left canine and the root exposure,” Case said. “It’s a significant tooth, and we want to protect it …

When you’re nine months old – and a grizzly bear – the world is a pretty exciting place. It was 10am on his first day out in public, and Hawthorne the grizzly cub was having a wonderful adventure – every ten seconds. First he sniffed around his habitat a little, checking out what was new this morning. He nosed logs, flipped over a small branch, then picked it up and shook it. Then he galloped a complete lap of the space, backside jiggling, and ran right up his favorite perch – a log cantilevered over the small pool. “He can …

Hawthorne prefers fruit and meat. Huckleberry loves lettuce and butternut squash. But when you’re caring for two growing 125-pound grizzly cubs, the biggest challenge is just keeping them fed. Play, eat, repeat “They play hard and eat a lot,” says Angela Gibson, carnivore keeper, who’s been looking after the cubs nearly full-time since they arrived in August, along with fellow keeper Haley Withers. The cubs eat first thing in the morning, last thing at night and a midday snack – but they also forage during their outside public times on lettuce and fruit that Gibson hides around their habitat in …

Who could resist a buff-colored grizzly bear cub named Huckleberry? Or a chocolate-colored “brother” bear named Hawthorne? They’re the names chosen for our energetic, engaging cubs, who are ready to make their public debut on Thursday, Sept. 20. The two will be out in their forested habitat – one at a time – beginning at 9:30 a.m. Look for Hawthorne from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Huckleberry from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. daily in their newly renovated – and cub-proofed – exhibit space. A bit of patience might be needed, though: The active, playful cubs run hard and …