Bear Affair Video
In tandem with our conservation partner the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project, Woodland Park Zoo presented Bear Affair in September 2006. The event involved setting up a "non-safe" bear camp in our grizzly bear exhibit and letting the bears show directly what can happen in bear country if the proper safety procedures aren't followed. Thanks to REI for providing the equipment. Enjoy and be bear safe!

In the video featured below, you can see how the event unfolded. Note: this video is formatted for broadband internet connection and may take some time to load and begin playing. Click here to watch - "Bear Affair"

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Meet the bears
Woodland Park Zoo’s two grizzly bears are brothers named Keema and Denali and are 12 years old (2006). The brothers arrived here from Washington State University in 1994. WSU maintains a small population of grizzlies in order to conduct long-term studies on bear nutrition.

Keema

Denali

Weight
The bears’ weights fluctuate depending on the season, but generally they tip the scales in the range of 800-850 pounds each.

Enrichment
Keepers encourage the bears’ natural foraging behavior by “scatter-feeding” produce and favorite food items throughout the exhibit each morning and again later in the day; providing new stumps, logs, props and other natural items in the exhibit also introduces new sights and smells to stimulate the bears’ senses. Keepers place browse (branches and leaves) in the exhibit and grasses for the bears to consume. They will also lace the exhibit with novel scents such as elk dung and spices to stimulate their olfactory sense. During the warmer times of the year, the bears are provided overnight access to their exhibit, providing them full use of all available areas to better accommodate any need they have to move about their environment.

Exhibit features
Various artificial elements including rockwork, a stream and deep pool that maintains 20-30 live trout, many that have lived in the pool for several years. The bears actively “fish” for the trout, occasionally teaming up to corral and capture the trout.

For more information on brown bears, visit the Animal Facts section of the zoo's Web site and select Brown bear. Help us protect wild bears and their habitat by donating to Woodland Park Zoo