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 …

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 …

We welcomed a second orphaned grizzly bear cub to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park over the weekend. He arrived from Montana, where he was rescued on the Blackfeet Nation lands after his mother was legally killed. She had been attacking pigs on a farm, wildlife officials said.   Staff at Montana Wild, where he was cared for since the end of June, estimate him to be a yearling cub, born in the winter of 2017.   He joins a 6-month-old cub from Alaska in our recently renovated grizzly bear habitat. That cub flew in last week from Anchorage. He was rescued …

He’s just a little guy – for a grizzly bear. He weighs only about 75 pounds and stands just about 2 feet tall. But by the time he’s an adult, this little orphan from Alaska could reach up to 11 feet tall, standing on his hind legs – and weigh into the hundreds of pounds. And on Aug. 1, the six-month-old grizzly bear cub who was orphaned near Nome and fostered by caring keepers at Alaska Zoo over the last few months, will have a home at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. He’ll soon be joined by a yearling cub from …