Freckles and Ditka made their debut at the Henry Doorly Zoo Friday.
The two male Andean bears will make their home in Durham's Bear Canyon for now, but eventually will move into an Andean Foothills exhibit that is part of the zoo's master plan.
The zoo last week unveiled its $174 million master plan, which calls for multiple new exhibits that group animals from the same parts of the world in more natural surroundings. Besides the Andean Foothills, other animal groupings are planned in Coastal Shores, Asian Highlands, African Grasslands and Equatorial Africa exhibits.
Andean bears are the only bear species not extinct in South America. They live in a variety of environments, from forests to grasslands to desert-like areas.
A species survival plan has been created for the bears. They are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List for Endangered Species due to loss of habitat and poaching. Animals conservationists think the classification will be changed to endangered by 2030.
Currently, there are 63 of the bears among the 33 Association of Zoos and Aquariums institutions.
Adult males usually weigh between 280 and 440 pounds. They have mostly black fur with tan on their faces, thus the nickname spectacled.
Freckles and Ditka, who came to Omaha from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, are both 22 years old and a little overweight, said Dan Cassidy, the Omaha zoo’s general curator.
Omaha zookeepers will try to help them lose some weight and become more mobile in their new home. The zoo will be adding more trees and other features to the exhibit to encourage them move around, he said.
They looked comical Friday morning as they crawled around on their forearms with their rumps up in the air. Michael Verbrigghe, assistant supervisor of cats and bears, said that is behavior found in the wild, usually in grassy areas where the bears have to forage for food. “These guys also are a little lazy.”
Andean bears are vegetarians, but they have been known to eat animals on farms in South America. In Omaha they are getting a diet of fruit and vegetables with a little dog food mixed in. Cassidy said they will get less and less meat as time goes by.
Freckles and Ditka live in the exhibit that once housed grizzly bears. Cassidy said the zoo decided to go with the Andean bears instead of replacing the grizzlies because “the grizzlies are doing better in the wild. The Andean bears will need more help in the future.”
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