Everything seems usual in the two dens. Lily and Faith are mostly quiet except for bouts of suckling. A difference between these two and Lily and Hope is play. Hope liked to play and engaged Lily in play a lot in the den. We wondered if it was unusual, but Lucky and Ted were playing a lot, too. Now we see Lily and Faith and the lack of play, which we suspect is more usual. Lily may have been more alert last year in the weeks before giving birth to the cubs than she is this year. But, also, Hope was a firecracker.
Lucky is a firecracker, too. He was able to get Honey to play a bit in the spring after they denned peacefully together 3 years ago, but not now. Honey drags items into the den to play with, but she doesn’t seem inclined to play with Lucky. The two had words again today.
These are the impressions we have now, but the minute-by-minute data collected by the Den Watchers will help us to quantify the actual differences in play we are seeing.
Bear personalities differ. We’re fortunate to have seen the playful side of bears with Hope and Lucky, and the more serious side of bears with Honey. We certainly feel the playful side of Lucky when we go in the bear enclosure with him. He wants to engage us, sniff us, and take us down. He wants to play. You gotta love him.
What will we see with the Jewel Den Cam? Who is this Jewel bear? We hope she has cubs to bring her personality out and let us see another dimension in the world of bears.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center