CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Zoo's Bear Ridge has its first residents after a wildlife rehabilitation center contacted the zoo about two orphaned black bears in need of a home.
The two bears are 7-month-old, female cubs that were deemed unable to be released back into the wild by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The Cincinnati Zoo said the wildlife rehabilitation center contacted them earlier this month, knowing the new exhibit was nearing completion.
"The Montana FWP works hard to promote coexistence with bears to minimize conflict and keep both humans and bears safe," said Kim Scott, the zoo's curator of mammals, in a press releae. "The goal is to avoid situations that result in orphaned bears, but that does happen in healthy wild bear populations and the orphans need homes. The FWP reached out to us last week, knowing that we had just completed construction on Bear Ridge, to ask if we could provide a home for these cubs."
The zoo said its North America keeper team packed up and headed to Montana to bring the cubs back to their home in Cincinnati. With help from DHL, the cubs arrived in Bear Ridge early on September 17 and have been getting acclimated since.
The bears are getting to know their caregivers and getting full health checks from the zoo's vet staff.
Scott said the pair is already a hit with zoo staff members.
"The team is already crazy about these bears," said Scott. "We're going to provide a great home for them and also hope to inspire guests with the uniqueness of a species that can be found right here in North America."
The cubs have not been given names yet, and they also won't be introduced to the outdoor spaces in Bear Ridge for another couple of weeks. The zoo said it will announce when it knows a specific date on which the public can begin seeing the bears.
The Cincinnati Zoo announced back in 2022 that it had plans to transform its former Bear Hill area into three new habitats: Bear Ridge, Sea Otter Coast and a third habitat dedicated to North American backyard wildlife.
The expansion is part of the zoo's "More Home to Roam" campaign, which launched in 2018. The campaign's goal is to raise $150 million by 2025 to build better homes for the animals living in the zoo.
The Bear Ridge exhibit was initially slated to open to the public in 2024, but construction on it has been ongoing this year.
