Zollman Zoo welcomes new Black Bear
Apr. 11—BYRON, Minn. — A new Black Bear is now roaming the bear enclosure at Zollman Zoo.
"We can BEAR-ly contain our excitement!" Oxbow Park and Zollman Zoo said in a Facebook post on Thursday, April 11. "We can't wait for you to meet her and watch her grow in the coming years."
The 2-year-old bear was purchased from Bear Country USA in South Dakota.
"We did purchase the bear, as Bear Country USA has to raise funds to care for their many animals. The owner of Bear Country USA specifically chose this female for us because he thought her size and demeanor would best fit our zoo," Zollman Zoo shared on Facebook. "She is used to being around other animals like bears and wolves, so here at the zoo she will have other animal neighbors that she can communicate with as well as enrichment from the zoo keepers to keep her busy."
While caring for birds, otters, wolves, foxes and more, each of the 85 to 100 animals has its own personality and likes or dislikes, Oxbow Park naturalist Clarissa Schrooten
shared with the Post Bulletin in January.
Zollman Zoo does not name its animals.
Schrooten said the zoo also received animal suggestions after the
24-year-old Black Bear died in November 2023.
The zoo hopes to expand the bear exhibit in the future.
"We're going Black Bear," Schrooten said in January. "There were some others who approached us with a different animal and we considered it but we figured people would be disappointed if it wasn't a Black Bear. That's the one exhibit I wish was larger and we've talked a lot about expansion to come but that will be way down the road."
The Zollman Zoo and
nature center
is open from 10 am to 4 p.m. daily.
"We were hoping to find a rescue but luckily most orphaned bear cubs are able to be released back into the wild," Zollman Zoo shared on Facebook. "We have found that large animals, like the bear, that are raised in captivity do much better in a zoo setting as they aren't stressed or scared of people. We do our best to find animals that will do well in our facility whether raised in captivity or from a wildlife rehabilitation center."
