What:
What happens when you don’t store food properly or haphazardly
leave garbage around while camping in bear country? Your campsite,
or your own backyard, will be crawling with bears, that’s what!
Get a glimpse of what can happen as Woodland Park Zoo’s popular
grizzly bear brothers tear into a “non-safe” campsite at
Bear Affair & The Big Howl for Wolves presented by Brown Bear Car
Wash.
Photos: Ryan
Hawk
Visuals:
Grizzly bears foraging through camping equipment provided by REI, pots and pans,
hammock, cooler, storage container with food, scattered food items. For video
of last year’s campsite demo, visit
this page and click on “Grizzly bears destroy camp.”
When:
Photo op of campsite demonstration: Saturday, April 5, 11:00 a.m.-noon
Bear Affair & the Big Howl for Wolves: Saturday, April 5, 9:30 a.m.-3:30
p.m.
Where:
The campsite demonstration is at the grizzly bear exhibit in the zoo’s
award-winning Northern Trail. Enter through the NORTH ENTRANCE off N. 59th
St. & Phinney Ave N. and proceed to the Northern Trail.
Who:
Conservationist Chris Morgan will provide insight into the hazards of unsafe
bear campsites and food conditioned bears in the backcountry, or around your
home. Morgan coordinates the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP), an independent
project promoting an accurate understanding of grizzly bears and their recovery
in the North Cascades Ecosystem through community education and involvement.
The GBOP is one of 43 field conservation projects that Woodland Park Zoo
partners with in more than 30 countries around the world.
The zoo’s grizzlies are 14-year-old brothers, Keema and Denali. The 850-pound
bears arrived at the zoo in 1994 from Washington State University, which maintains
a small collection to conduct a long-term study on bear nutrition.
Info:
Bear Affair & The Big Howl for Wolves is part of EcoWeekend presented by
ShoreBank Pacific and The Boeing Company. The campsite scenario is among thedemonstrations
and activities offered that pays tribute to bears and wolves. Keeper talks, enrichment
treats for bears and wolves, and mini-presentations by GBOP teaches visitors
what bears and wolves in the wild need to survive and how we can all co-exist.
In addition to grizzlies and wolves, the event also spotlights other bears at
the zoo – Malayan sun bears and sloth bears.
Fewer than
20 grizzly bears and more than 6,000 black bears live in the North
Cascades. They are smart, agile
animals that quickly learn about food sources.
Tip: Never let bears access your food in the backcountry, or around your home!
Food conditioned bears usually end up being killed.
EcoWeekend
continues through Sunday, April 6. Free with zoo admission, the event
celebrates wildlife,
the wild places humans share with animals and the
changes
we can make to positively impact the planet. For more information, visit
www.zoo.org, or call
206.548.2500 or 206.548.2599 (TTY). For more information about the Grizzly
Bear Outreach Project, visit www.bearinfo.org.
The zoo
opens 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily through April 30. Admission through
April 30: Adult (13-64)
$11.00; Child (3-12) $8.00; Toddler (0-2) Free. Seniors
and people with disabilities receive a discount and zoo members receive
free zoo admission year-round.
Parking:
$4.50. Consider taking the bus, biking, walking or carpooling. Conserving
resources is one more
way of helping the animals. Call Metro
at 206.553.3000
for bus service to the zoo.
Accredited
by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), award-winning Woodland
Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting
international standards for zoos all over the world. Conservation,
education and excellent animal care are at the core of the zoo’s
mission. The zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats in
Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow
leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles
and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring people to care and
act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s
future.
