Meeting Some Senior Citizen Bears at the Pittsburgh Zoo

My mother and sister in front of the Pittsburgh Zoo Sign. Can you see the Gorilla and Snow Leopard in the Tree?

Over the weekend, my sister, mother, and I traveled to Pittsburgh to visit the Zoo there and to see the four bear species the Zoo had to offer. It is a beautiful Zoo with a lot to offer and it is almost as though the Zoo was carved right into the side of a mountain with lots of hills to climb to get to the different exhibits. I had an amazing time and met the Bear Keeper there, Mo Brown. He was very nice and gave me his and some of the other Zoo staffs' information to talk to about acquiring biological samples from their male Andean Bear, Rizzaro, for my senior research.

Rizzaro, the Andean Bear, being all cute and groggy after taking a nap.

At first, when I reached the Bear section of the exhibits, I was excited to see the Brown Kodiak Bears, Andean Bears, and the North American Black Bears. However, I was struck by the first two empty enclosures which were meant to contain the Kodiak Bears. I later learned from Mo that their male Kodiak Bear, Rocky, had to be euthanized in August 2010. He was 28 years old when he had to be euthanized due to severe arthritis and spinal problems. This bear lived to be a senior citizen of a bear and I felt Mo's pain as he described the decision he had to make over Rockys life. Mo was Rockys caretaker for quite some time and I'm sure the pain of not seeing Rocky everyday is all but unbearable. However, this is the life of a zookeeper and this is the field I plan on entering. Sometimes, we must live with seeing our beloved animals at their worst only to remember what made them so great to begin with. Seeing them in all their magnificence makes seeing the bad a little bit easier to deal with, knowing that their is or was a light at the end of the tunnel. Rocky, this goes out to you! I hope I have my own Rocky one day.

This might look like a roar, but it was actually a yawn. Mister Lazy Bear.

The next bear I met was a beloved Andean Bear named Rizzaro. He was a very lazy but beautiful Andean Bear. I learned that Rizz, as his keeper call him, was a 21 year old Andean Bear making him a much older bear than his wild brothers and sisters of South America. His exhibit mate, Roxanne, was euthanized a couple of years ago.

A nice shake and stretch after waking up.

It seems the zoo has been plagued by old age (if you consider long-lived animals a plague). The most recent loss, which did not go unnoticed to me, was their 21 year old Male Lion, Juma, in March this year. This male lion was among the five OLDEST male lions in captivity. Like many older cats, Jumas liver began to fail. Prior to the loss of their Lion, they also lost Rocky and Roxanne, the bears.

Despite the loss, the Zoo has also experiences some new life in recent times. With the birth of 3 Amur (also known as Siberian)Tiger cubs, a baby elephant, and a baby sea lion in the last year, it is definitely not all doom and gloom.

A very cute Amur Tiger Cub on exhibit.

Now, back to my favorite Rizzaro. While talking to Mo about Rizzaro, Mo mentioned that he'd be giving the bears boxes of fruit at 1:15pm that day and that I should come by. The most I'd seen of Rizzaro all day was his backside as he slept all day, so I was anxious to see the big guy in motion. When Mo threw the box of fruit into Rizzs' enclosure, the great bear barely moved, waiting till he was sure the fruit was a good enough reason to move.

Rizz getting ready for another nap.

Mo told me that Rizz hasa serious sweet tooth and didn't like anything that wasn't sweet. I asked if he ever fed the bears sweet corn, seeing as Maize Crop Raiding is the leading cause of Bear Poaching in Ecuador. Mo replied with a "never" and explained that the corn just wasn't sweet enough to Rizz. The box of fruit Mo threw into the enclosure included Cantelope, Grapes, and Blueberries. From what I saw, it seemed Rizz enjoyed the blueberries the most. This made me happy, because wild Andean Bears enjoy blueberries too (called Mortino berries in Ecuador).

Walking to his fruit box that landed magically in his enclosure.

I was surprised by the gentle nature with which Rizz ate his fruit, taking small bites as he went along. He was a truly beautiful creature and I am anxious to see him again soon. I will likely return to Pittsburgh after coming back from Ecuador in order to collect scat samples from Rizzaro. Using the samples, I will attempt to amplify Rizzaro's fecal DNA. As far as I know, this has never been done sucessfully done with Andean Bears before. If I am sucessful, it will be a very exciting moment in my academic career.

Num num. Cantelope.

The next set of bears I met were North American Black Bears names Susan and Stanley. These bears, like the other bears on exhibit, are also very old for bears with Susan at the age of 20 and Stanley at the age of 25. These bears, too, seemed to be very lazy bears. Both sleeping the entire time I saw them... that is, until the food came.

I was particularly fond of Stanley who was resting at the top of his exhibit. Occasionally, he would look down at me taking his picture and give me the softest expression with the cutest doe eyes you'll ever see on a bear. He was beautiful. I couldn't get many photos of Susan because she was sleeping in the doorway with her butt hanging out, but no face to be seen. I loved seeing them.

Stanley.

My bear adventure ended with a trip to the Polar Bear exhibit, which is separate from the other bears. I'm uncertain of which Polar Bear I was looking at, considering the zoo has two. I believe his name is Koda, because in photos he does not have a black spot above his eye (which is how the zoo says you can tell Nuka and Koda apart). However, my pictures could be deceiving.

Koda.

Koda (I think!) was exceptional. I got to see him both on land and in the water. The keeper even threw in some kind of floatation device that was filled with fish (I think!). He was bouncing the float around trying to get the fish out and when he did, he would dunk his head in the water to get it. It was very cute.

Koda with his floaty filled with fish.

I, unfortunately, didn't get to meet the Polar Bears' keeper, Kathy Suthard. I would have loved to because I beleve that Kathy has my dream job. Kathy is the head keeper of the Polar Bears and the Large Cats at Pittsburgh Zoo. I believe her job mixes my two favorite kinds of animals: bears and cats. As I say in my bio, the phrase, "Lions, Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!", truly represents me.

Taking a dip.

I took many, many photos on Saturday at the Zoo. Many came out lovely, but I am still learning to use my DSLR camera. Sometimes, I don't get the focus just right, but many came out beautiful. I hope everyone enjoys them and that I'll have more beautiful pictures of Ecuador to share not too long from now.

Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley

RIP ROCKY! You will be missed!