New Cubs May Not Stay - 4 August, 2005

By LAURA INCALCATERRA
lincalca@thejournalnews.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS

BEAR MOUNTAIN — Visitors to the zoo yesterday were among the first to see a newly arrived pair of black bear cubs.

But whether the cubs will remain permanently at the zoo is unknown.

The Bear Mountain State Park Trailside Museums and Wildlife Center is overseen by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Carol Ash, the executive director, said yesterday that she preferred a different home for the cubs.

Ash wouldn't discuss details of how the bears came to the zoo, calling it a personnel matter, but she said the park commission wished there had been more time to prepare for their arrival. Accepting a bear, she said, was a 30-year commitment.

"You need to be prepared to raise these kids for a long time," Ash said. "We're still in the process of determining whether we can keep the bears."

The Bear Mountain zoo is the permanent home of a black bear named Reba, who has lived at the site for most of her 17 years. Her twin sister, Sheba, who suffered from epilepsy, was euthanized in November.

The park commission has considered bringing new bears to Bear Mountain, but had no solid plans, Ash said.

The new cubs were born to a captive mother and confiscated by authorities in Kansas, said Ed McGowan, executive director of the Trailside Museums and Wildlife Center.

The cubs were then placed in a private facility — the Rolling Hills Zoo, near Salina, Kan., he said. That zoo is small, and the cubs faced euthanasia.

Recently, a park commission worker learned about the availability of the Kansas cubs and made arrangements to bring them to Bear Mountain, where they arrived about two weeks ago.

The cubs are between 6 months and 7 months old and weigh about 45 pounds, McGowan said. One is female and the other is male. Unlike the vast majority of black bears, both have cinnamon-colored coats rather than nearly completely black ones.

Ash said yesterday that she was now working to make sure the enclosure used by Reba could contain the playful cubs.

Additional fencing was added to prevent the cubs from coming into contact with people who wander into areas, McGowan said.

Ash said she had to notify the federal Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Environmental Conservation about the cubs' newest living quarters.

The executive director said a lead paint abatement on fencing and cage doors was done to ensure that no harm would come to the cubs.

When asked why such tasks were not completed before the cubs' arrival, Ash would only say the bears had arrived quickly.

Until yesterday, zoo officials only let the cubs outside in the mornings, before visitors arrived. Zoo officials said they are now trying to acclimate the cubs and Reba.

The cubs spent a good portion of yesterday climbing a wooden jungle gym, swimming in a small pool, rolling around a sandbox and nipping and swiping at each other like human brothers and sisters often do. Their antics brought smiles and widened eyes on children and adults alike.

"They're just the cutest things," Laura Lowe said.

The 12-year-old Stony Point girl was visiting the zoo with her parents, Janet and Thomas Oliver.

Ash said one potential problem could involve the bears' waste. Most of the waste is collected by zoo workers, but some may wash into the Hudson River. About two years ago, the Riverkeeper organization filed a lawsuit against the park commission to end the commission's practice of releasing what the Riverkeeper described as untreated human sewage into the Hudson.

Both sides worked out an agreement to address the issues, but Ash said yesterday that she had to keep the Riverkeeper action in mind when deciding the bears' fate. She said she did not want to put the park commission in a position to be sued.

Ash said she had little hope of finding a safe, clean and healthy facility for the cubs because black bears were not an endangered species. Ash said Bear Mountain would become the cubs' permanent home if an appropriate new home could not be found.

BACK