Turtle Back Zoo exhibit allows visitors to view cubs in 'cabin'

Friday, June 17, 2005

BY JONATHAN CASIANO

Star-Ledger Staff

With residents around New Jersey clamoring for a bear hunt to keep the furry carnivores away from their homes, it would seem black bears are the last thing any county would invite into its back yard.

But that's exactly what Essex County did yesterday when it welcomed two female black bear cubs to their new home, a "back yard" at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange.

Born six months ago at Six Flags Great Adventure, the cubs are the zoo's newest attraction. Visitors play the role of a family living in a rural home, where black bears can frequently be spotted wandering through back yards. To view the bears, visitors enter a mock cabin fitted with everything from a faux kitchen to a pair of black leather couches. Playing on a television in the cabin's living room is an educational film about bears and their habitat, showing the animals lumbering through the woods and rifling through trash cans.

Outside a picture window are the two cubs, free to roam through 18,000 square feet of trees and rocks and swim in a 375-square-foot pool. Though only about 20 pounds now, the cubs will grow to be about 200 pounds each. Along with the cabin, there are also two other sheltered viewing stations built around the exhibit.

"People have called me and said we've got such a problem in New Jersey with bears, why do you want a bear exhibit at the zoo?" said Freeholder Patricia Sebold. "But I tell them that zoos are changing and they're not just about seeing an animal behind bars, but also educating the public."

The bears arrive as animal rights activists and state environmental officials gear up for a fight over whether or not a hunt will be held this year to reduce the state's black bear population.

Earlier this week, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell surprisingly came out saying a hunt was likely, noting that bears are encroaching farther than ever on the state's residential neighborhoods.

Essex County officials speaking at yesterday's opening ceremony acknowledged the controversy, saying the exhibit would be used to teach visitors about an animal that is a fixture on the New Jersey landscape.

County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said the bears are also an important part of increasing the stature of Turtle Back, which has long suffered from poor attendance and a lack of exciting animals.

"We want to make this zoo the best zoo in the state of New Jersey," DiVincenzo said.

The $1.35 million attraction is one of several new features coming to Turtle Back over the next year. Next week, the county will open a year-round petting zoo featuring common farm animals, and construction is under way for an animal hospital. Also on the horizon is a $5 million reptile education center scheduled to open early next year and featuring Komodo dragons and Burmese pythons.

"This sets a whole new precedent for the quality and type of exhibits we're going to be producing at the zoo," said Turtle Back Director Jeremy Goodman.

The bear exhibit was clearly a hit yesterday with the dozens of children who flooded into the cabin as soon as the ribbon was cut. Peering out the window, kids from Sussex County to Hudson County squealed in delight as the cubs took turns knocking each other off the top of a tree stump.

"They look cute," said Bryant Wexler, 8, of North Bergen. "I'd feed them every day."

"They're bigger than I thought," chimed in Carlos Berrios, 7, also of North Bergen.

Andrea Winner of Hackettstown brought her daughter Rachel's Brownie troop down to see the bears, though she admitted hearing plenty of horror stories from her neighbors about black bears that are not in captivity. Still, Winner sat back and smiled as Rachel pressed her face against the glass for a better look at the cubs.

"People have their opinions about them, but I guess here they're trying to make the public more aware," said Winner. "It's interesting."

Perhaps no one enjoyed yesterday's opening more than Jim Garahan, who for 13 years has collected money to bring the bears to Turtle Back as a member of the zoo docents. Known as the "Bag Man," Garahan would sit at the zoo's entrance selling a trinket and a lollipop in a brown paper bag for $2 or a small stuffed animal for $5, eventually raising $75,000 for the exhibit.

Yesterday, the 89-year-old Garahan donned his blue docent shirt and watched the bears with the glee of a child as they rumbled through their habitat, just as he had always imagined.

"A lot of people said bears were no good, but I said next to monkeys kids like bears the best," Garahan said. "It's even better than I thought it would be."