22nd Bear-thday Party Success!
Posted by Devin Manky July 31, 2023
Grinder and Coola celebrate their bear-thday
This past Saturday, July 29th, we celebrated Grinder and Coola's 22nd Bear-thday! Both bears actually turned 22 years old this past winter - most likely the middle of January - but since it's hard to celebrate while in hibernation, we decided to hold off until the summer months!
There were extra activities around the bear habitat such as a First Nations Bear-thday performance (including a Grizzly bear dance), face painting, crafts, a scavenger hunt and information on the challenges facing wild Grizzly Bears at an informational booth hosted by the Grizzly Bear Foundation.
Cake "Smash"
The highlight of the event was a gorgeous frozen Bear-thday cake that we gave to the bears to devour - it even included veterinarian approved whipping cream! When we let Grinder and Coola back into their upper pond habitat, they both quickly found the cake and started licking up the whip cream. Once the whip cream was largely gone, they started in on the ice layers which contained berries, nuts, fish and other tasty bear treats!
Finally, since it was taking too long to thaw or gnaw through, Coola decided to roll his piece into the pond and have the water help him melt out the goodies!
Overall it looked like a hit - even if it wasn't so much of a smash but many many licks!
We can't wait to celebrate their 23rd Bear-thday next summer!
