Millie’s cubs are thriving
Nova and Nita, born in Montana, now reside at the Maryland Zoo, providing lessons on grizzly bear education
By Tom Mallon
Erin Cantwell, Mammal Collection & Conservation Manager at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, had been in her position for just over a month when an email came across a listserv advertising that two cubs in Montana had lost their mother and were in need of a home. The idea of taking the bears in to her new zoo was appealing to Erin, especially considering the fact that the zoo had recently lost two of its three polar bears to age-related deaths, but it seemed like a long shot.
Cantwell printed the email and “very nonchalantly” placed it in front of Mike McClure, the Zoo’s General Curator and her boss. “The next thing I knew, we had two grizzly bears,” she jokes.
The History
The cubs in question are two sisters, born in early 2016, whose mother had been buckshot in the face. People and Carnivores’ was working on a field project in Montana’s Mission Valley and our trail cameras caught the maimed sow on video. While the mother could not be saved, her orphaned cubs were transported to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ holding facility in Helena.
From the start, it was clear that the cubs could not return to the wild. With their mother gone, they could not learn how to forage, hibernate, and survive in the wild. Two options remained: euthanasia or a permanent home out of the wild. We decided to help make the latter happen. We had little idea how complicated a task it would be.
The cubs needed a place that could afford to keep the bears for decades, as well as meet stringent federal requirements for housing a pair of endangered animals. And we were in a race against time. The State of Montana has very limited facilities for housing bears that cannot return to the wild. Montana FWP employees went to great lengths to keep the cubs alive and healthy during the search for a permanent home. In the meantime, we published an article, made many phone calls, and reached out to our membership for support.
Nova (front) and Nita (back) in their new home at the Maryland Zoo
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore came through.
“We knew the possibility of filling the polar bear exhibit with new polar bears would be difficult, if not impossible,” said Jane Ballentine, Sr. Director of Development & Communications at the Maryland Zoo. But people love bears and “grizzly bears are so iconic.” She knew “people would be so excited to have two grizzly cubs at our zoo.”
There was much to do to convert the polar bear exhibit into space that could accommodate two separate species, but once they got the go-ahead, things moved very quickly. By mid-December of 2016, McClure and Dr. Ellen Bronson, the zoo’s Director of Animal Health, Conservation, and Research, began the trek to Montana to bring the cubs home.
The Transport
“The transport was one of the most interesting animal experiences of my career,” McClure recalled with a slight chuckle.
The initial plan was to fly from Maryland to Montana, on a Tuesday, perform a general health exam of the bears on Wednesday, and be on the road by Wednesday night.
McClure and Bronson landed in Denver for a short layover, where McClure checked his text messages on the tarmac. “The weather in Montana is bad. Don’t go. Come back or you’ll end up stuck,” he read, an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach. But they were so close and knew the two cubs needed them, so they forged on.
McClure remembers an image of Montana that many locals know all too well. “The weather was atrocious and frightening,” he described. “I’m a warm weather guy, from the South. It was ugly.”
The temperature hit -23°F that day. Strong winds and drifting snow closed all of the highways leaving Helena. McClure and his driver were using a truck and trailer to transport the cubs, so they all bundled up to wait out the storm—a delay they figured would be a day or so. They were wrong.
Life at the Zoo
“The cubs were incredibly well received from the minute they got here,” Jane affirms. “People come back to see them because they’re so active and interactive with each other.”
The “cubs,” though, can hardly be called cubs anymore. Nova, the “big” bear, has quickly grown to 247 pounds, and her “little” sister Nita is not so far behind, weighing in at 204 pounds.
Nova taking a dip in the cubs’ private pond
The bears have taken on distinct personalities. Nova loves swimming in their private pond, while Nita is happy standing on the rocks, observing her own reflection or watching her sister splash around. They have a nice grassy area to dig around and a hill that they’ve turned into a mud slide.
The cubs seem to have no trouble captivating audiences young and old that stroll by their pen. “People stand there for a long time and marvel at them. I for one will go stand by the exhibit and watch them. I love watching people’s reaction to them,” Jane admired.
Because of their captivating abilities, Nova and Nita give zookeepers ample time to convey important messages to the audience. Too often, zoo visitors rush from one exhibit to the next, but the sisters are such a draw that zookeepers have been able to share key lessons about grizzly bears, human-wildlife conflict, and the plight of some of these animals in the wild. “They have been such great ambassadors for their species,” says Cantwell.
On any given day, visitors will find Nova and Nita barrel-rolling down their hill or play fighting with each other. They may even be lucky enough to catch them going for a swim or hanging out by the glass, interacting with guests.
“It’s been a real joy to have them” Ballentine said. “We know we’ve done the right thing. They’ve been such a great addition for us for so many reasons.”
Millie’s cubs are happy when they’re playing together
Thanks to Jane Ballentine, Mike McClure, Erin Cantwell, and the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for spending time catching us up on the cubs new life and for the images they shared.