Hollywild Animal Park Photo
A Syrian brown bear cub was born at Hollywild Animal Park Jan. 16. Triplets were born to the cubs' parents, Ramses and Giza, last year.
Hollywild Animal Park Photo
A naming contest for the cub has begun at the park's website, www.hollywild.org.
The public’s first opportunity to meet the cub will be at the park’s season kickoff, International Earth Day event, noon on Saturday, March 23.
A naming contest for the cub has begun. Park visitors can submit names online through the park’s website, www.hollywild.org or deliver the form in person through Sunday, March 24. The winning name will be announced March 27 on the park’s Facebook page.
Daily in January, Jennifer DeCarranza, Animal Curator at Hollywild, would kneel down beside a bear den and listen. She hear what she’d been waiting for on Jan. 16, the sound a newborn cub makes as it searches for food.
“We had every reason to believe that Giza would give birth again this year. She showed all the signs of an expectant mother bear, from packing on extra weight to support the nutritional needs for babies to doing a lot of digging in her habitat, working to create a den. Even though Giza knows she has a den in her habitat already, this is an instinctive behavior and a clear sign for us to be on the lookout for cubs in January,” DeCarranza said.
In 2012, Giza gave birth to triplet cubs, still in residence at Hollywild.
“This is the second year we’ve had a major focus on our bears,” said David Meeks, Hollywild’s executive director. “We’ve been working on a three phase bear habitat renovation and have already begun phase two. It is very exciting that our visitors will now get to see these rare bears at multiple stages of development.”
Syrian Brown Bears are extinct in their native Syria. Though there are reports of random sightings in other areas, it is believed there are not enough of these bears to repopulate to a sustainable level with the few that may remain in the wild, according to Hollywild handlers.
Hollywild visitors can meet the cub and her triplet, year-old sisters, Amalia, Malika, and Samra. They’ll also get to see the cubs’ parents, Ramses and Giza, who retired to Hollywild after careers in traveling bear show.