The Bears of the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

The Center is home for grizzly bears from as far away as Alaska and as close as Yellowstone National Park. Each bear and its story are unique, but they all have something in common; they came to reside here after becoming nuisnace bears or orphaned cubs of a nuisance bear. These bears learn to obtain food from people, damage property in search of food or become aggressive toward people and are usually killed. Instead of being destroyed, the eight bears that reside at the GWDC were rescued and are ambassadors for their counterparts in the wild.
 


The Center provides the bears with a large outdoor habitat that includes many natural features. Grass, logs, trees, talus fields, mulch digging areas, a waterfall and deep pond give the bears a comfortable and stimulating environment. Each bear is also provided with a private indoor area. The animal care staff rotates the combinations of bears that are in the habitat together. The bears seem to find this variety enjoyable. Keepers also hide food in the habitat, stock the pond with live trout and rearrange habitat features regularly. The bears at the GWDC sniff out their food, dig it up and catch fish just like they did in the wild. This means the bears are healthy both physically and mentally and show all kinds of natural bear behavior. Visitors may see a bear scratch its back on a tree, catch a fish, wrestle with another bear, or stand up to sniff the wind.