Wide-eyed cubToday was a talking day. No real tangible work accomplished, but stimulating discussions and a flood of new ideas. First, we met with Ross Peterson, Mayor of Ely, who generously gave over 2 hours of his time. We talked so long; we missed a scheduled call from Else Poulsen, one of the top bear husbandry people in the world and the organizer of the annual Bear Care Conference. We called her back.
Both cubs snooze on LilyThe 3 of us talked and exchanged ideas for over 3 hours—exhausting the batteries of several cordless phones. Part of the talk was about the changing relationship between Lucky and Ted as they graduate from playmates to rivals. Else provided us with some new (to us) concepts from her extensive experience with captive bears. She left us with much to think about. 
Cub dives for a nipple!We’ll be sectioning off part of the big enclosure to separate Lucky and Ted, if need be. We’ll also be instituting new feeding procedures as part of the new Bear Educator program. Directory of Operations/Bear Curator Judy Thon will be going to the Bear Care Conference this fall in New Jersey.
Lily plays with her cubsWe did manage to catch some of the very cute interactions with the now wide-eyed cubs as they interacted with Lily and each other. Lily is beginning to play with them. Video of their delightful interactions is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnKLpENfTnM.
A Lily Fan captured Ted’s reaction to the hay being spread yesterday at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK968BOl83c.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center