Bear exhibit opens
By Lauren DeFilippo, Staff
Writer Wednesday,
June 22, 2005 10:27 AM EDT
Bear exhibit opens
By Lauren DeFilippo, Staff
Writer Wednesday,
June 22, 2005 10:27 AM EDT
At the corner of Turtle Back Drive and Black Bear Avenue is a little house.
Bordered by a white picket fence, the little house is the home to two new residents that moved into the Turtle Back Zoo community in West Orange last week.
The two in question are yet-to-be-named female black bear cubs.
"They're just like little kids," zoo director Jeremy Goodman said.
And they're equally appealing to their human counterparts as well.
Students from all over were among the first visitors to the space.
"It was interesting," 7-year-old Emily Briales said.
The second-grader from Robert Fulton School in North Bergen said that it was watching the bears react to their presence that was the best part.
"They stared at us, and then went back to climbing," she said.
She and her classmates Ayah Taha, 7, and Lourdes Flores and Valeria Franco, both 8, each submitted suggestions for the names of the two cubs.
Taha said she chose Gloria and Brennan for her names because she just thought they were nice.
The other girls said they got their inspiration from looking at the bears and their surroundings.
While the model house is the key component of the exhibit, the bears actually live behind it, rather than in it.
The official name of the exhibit is "Bears in Your Backyard," and the model home helps make it more interactive.
Inside the home, which includes two small couches, a television, and kitchen, visitors will get a view of the bear's natural habitat, which is not unlike many New Jersey backyards.
On the television is a video about bears. Pamphlets about bear safety and fun facts line the counter top.
Visitors can enter the home, and peer out the sliding glass doors as the cubs run and climb in their new home.
Right now, they are simply dark little dots of fur on the landscape, but they will probably weigh as much as 250 pounds by the time the are fully grown.
When they were born, the cubs, who came from Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, weighed only 8 ounces and were only 9 inches long. Now, at 6 months of age, the cubs are approximately 20 pounds and 20 inches long.
Right now, the bears are on a steady diet of "Omnivore Chow" and a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, Goodman said.
"They love grapes," the zoo director said.
Although, come winter time it will be unlikely that the bears will hibernate, he said.
Typically, hibernation only occurs when food sources become scarce, he said. Since the bears will be receiving ample food, they should be no extended hibernation on their part.
When the weather does turn colder, the bears will be able to create their own "dens by burrowing near fallen logs and the like."
However, Goodman said that in the event of inclement weather, the bears will have access to other shelter.
Though it only opened last week, the new $1.2 million habitat had been kicking around the zoo community for more than a decade.
Fund-raising for it actually began 12 years ago. Jim Garahan, a Turtle Back Zoo docent and member of the Zoological Society, worked to raise approximately $72,000 for the project over the years.
He sold $2 grab bags to zoo visitors for the exhibit that now bears his name on the door.
Though his initial dream of having the habitat on the zoo property has been realized, Garahan will continue to sell the grab bags for the construction of a reptile and educational exhibit.
Chief financiers Ronald J. Mount and Gary Goldring, who donated $100,000 each toward the exhibit, were also on hand to usher in the first visitors. Additional funding for the project came from a $500,000 Green Acres grant awarded to the Zoological Society of New Jersey. These funds were then matched by funds from Essex County through its Open Space Trust Fund. Another $100,000 was also donated by the Zoological Society - almost three-quarters of which was raised by Garahan.
