Three Bears Headed For Eastern Zoos

Three grizzly bears are about to embark on trips to zoos in Chicago and New York after wildlife officials spent three weeks arranging to move the bears safely.

In June, biologists captured the young sow grizzly in a residential area near Kalispell. The two orphaned cubs were captured on the Rocky Mountain Front near Choteau.

All the animals had developed the habit of lingering close to civilization, which barred them from being released again in the wild.

Biologists often must kill problem bears, because zoos usually have all the bears they can accommodate. In addition, private zoos are not eligible for Montana grizzlies because federal law forbids commercial trade in threatened species.

But these bears were luckier; the Bronx Zoo in New York said it could use the two cubs, and the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago accepted the sow.

Tim Manley, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly specialist, said the bears will be shipped in special crates built for moving large animals.

The crates look like oversized, extra-sturdy dog kennels. Each is built of four-by-fours, with a sliding steel-grate door and steel reinforcement. Each crate weighs 800 pounds - without a bear.

Manley hopes the animals will be on their way today in a special, airconditioned truck. The two zoos agreed to haul the bears east in one rig. The shipping company specializes in moving zoo animals.

Trucking was a fallback for wildlife officials. They first hoped to ship the bears by air, but the crates proved too big for airplanes that land at Glacier Park International Airport.

In September 1993, the San Antonio Zoo took a sow grizzly from northwestern Montana. Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists simply loaded the animal into a culvert trap and drove without a break to Texas.

“She’s doing just fine,” reported Robert Evans, curator of mammals at the San Antonio Zoo. “She spends a lot of time in her pool with her head on the edge, watching people.”

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