Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications
Editor’s note: Big thanks to animal keeper Maddie Weholt for all the great info!
Whether it’s for animals or for people, a regular visit to the doctor’s office is part of a good healthcare and wellness routine. But what about when it’s for a 400-pound-and-still-growing young brown bear? This July, our animal care team performed a complete routine physical on the well-known and well-loved 2-½-year-old female—and she passed her exam with flying colors! But what does a doctor’s appointment look like for a big bear like Juniper? Let us take a behind-the-scenes peek at all the ins, outs and in-betweens of Juniper’s day at the “doctor’s office.”
Aside from medical care for illness or injury, all our animals get routine health and wellness checkups—but how often that happens depends on the species and what our veterinary staff recommends to best meet their needs. In the case of our brown bears, they are examined every 3 years, with Juniper up first and Fern’s (Juniper’s BFF and “housemate”) checkup likely scheduled for next year.
Transporting an animal to Woodland Park Zoo’s veterinary hospital is not always necessary or even possible for some of our larger zoo residents. Our veterinarians do have the ability to “make house calls” when needed—but the animal hospital is an ideal place for a medical check when it is doable. No matter where an exam takes place, one of the most important aspects of our animal health protocols is making sure the process is as stress-free as possible for our animals. This is where regular training and trust-building with animal keepers and our veterinary staff comes into play.
Since they were cubs, both Fern and Juniper have voluntarily participated in near-daily or weekly separate training sessions (with plenty of yummy treats involved!) where they each lie down calmly in a behind-the-scenes chute that has small openings where trained staff can safely touch various parts of their bodies. Being asked to “present” different body parts like their paws, the sides of their faces, and to open their mouths allows their care team to get a good look at their whole bodies while they’re awake.
Both bears are used to being separated during these training sessions and when eating. For training, the separation allows keepers to focus 100% of their attention on one bear at a time. And during mealtimes, it allows the keepers to make sure each bear gets enough to eat. Foods like greens and vegetables can be shared and eaten together as the bears aren’t likely to fight over these so-called “lower-value” foods, but “higher-value” foods like meat and fruit are always offered separately. This gives each bear some reassurance that they will not have to compete with the other for food—a key necessity to keep the peace when housing bears together.
A thorough health check requires a little more hands-on approach then a training session, so being desensitized to getting touched on the hip area—for example—allows our animal care staff to do things like administer vaccines or medicines without having to dart either bear or stress them out. This is how Juniper was hand-injected with anesthetic medications on the morning of her exam. No fuss, no muss and she was soon sound asleep.
As a sub-adult—both of our brown bears will turn 3 years old this winter—Juniper is not quite fully-grown yet, so this could be the last time she’s actually “small enough” (a very relative term in this case) to transport down to our hospital facility. According to animal keeper Maddie who stayed with Juniper throughout her checkup, it took EIGHT members of the animal care team to hoist her in and out of the animal ambulance (remember, she clocks in at around 400 lbs.) and they also needed a couple of carts with wheels to cover the distance between her exhibit and the vehicle plus the exam room at the animal hospital. She may still be on the young side, but she is already a big girl, just as she is supposed to be!
During Juniper's exam, our veterinary staff took blood and urine samples, listened to her heart and lungs, examined her teeth, took radiographs (x-rays), and performed an ultrasound to get a closer look at some of her organs. The conclusion? Juniper is meeting all normal and expected milestones for a growing sub-adult brown bear. In other words, she’s in great shape! In total, the exam took around a couple hours to complete and Juniper was back home in her Living Northwest Trail habitat before noon.
All the while, Fern was cool as a cucumber while her bestie was away. In the weeks before Juniper’s July exam our animal keepers separated the bears for longer periods of time than normal so that Fern could get used to being out on the public side of the habitat for a while without Juniper. It also allowed the keepers to learn what Fern would need in order to stay busy and calm on her own, so they could set her up for success!
On the day of the exam Fern got her whole day’s worth of food at once (normally her meals are separated out) scattered throughout the habitat area so she could have fun sniffing and foraging around. They also gave her all sorts of toys that she usually only has access to behind the scenes, and they hid special yummy treats like nuts around the entire exhibit. This strategy also made her super full and super tired first thing in the morning—just like us after a big meal and play sesh! So basically, Fern spent all morning eating, playing with toys and napping—a bear's favorite things to do.
Fern and Juniper’s reunion that afternoon was nice and uneventful. Once Juniper was steady on her feet and walking around, she began making a vocalization called a “contact call.” This is a kind of call made between a mother and her cubs, or between littermates to help them keep tabs on each other. Fern heard Juniper’s call, so the keepers let the girls have visual access to each other through a mesh door in their indoor holding area. They sniffed each other and licked each other’s faces through the mesh—which is (according to keeper Maddie) insanely cute but is also a sign that neither of them was irritated or holding a grudge from the separation. Clearly Fern and Juniper were more than ready to be back together.
Once they were reunited Fern and Juniper had access to the whole exhibit—both the public and behind-the-scenes “holding” areas—but they chose to hang out in the holding area for a while. Juniper “celebrated” the reunion by throwing her favorite toys around the yard. (If you’ve watched Juniper for any period of time, you’ll know she is very skilled at tossing things into the air—food, sticks, plants—anything she gets a hold of.) Later that evening both bears were swimming in their pool together and by the next day everything was back to business as usual.
The weight of a brown bear fluctuates seasonally, and some wild bears have been documented to nearly double their weight in the fall as they prepare for winter! Currently Juniper is around 400 pounds, and Fern is 50-70 pounds less. Despite the weight difference due to them being from different populations (they are both brown bears— but Juniper is a coastal brown bear and Fern is grizzly which is a different sub-species that tends to be smaller) Juniper and Fern are the same age and should follow the same developmental timeline.
Lots of people ask us how much we expect each of our bears will weigh when they’re done growing—brown bears mature around 4-5 years of age so we would expect them to be fully grown by then. Any number would just be a guess at this point so it’s a question keeper Maddie likes to answer with “I can’t wait to find out”! Whatever comes to pass, we’re so happy that Juniper’s wellness exam went off without a hitch and that both girls are thriving since arriving at Woodland Park Zoo as orphans in 2022 (Juniper from Alaska and Fern from Montana). We think keeper Maddie has the right idea and we also can’t wait to see what the future brings for both of these boisterous girls.
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| Hi Juniper! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
Editor’s note: Big thanks to animal keeper Maddie Weholt for all the great info!
Whether it’s for animals or for people, a regular visit to the doctor’s office is part of a good healthcare and wellness routine. But what about when it’s for a 400-pound-and-still-growing young brown bear? This July, our animal care team performed a complete routine physical on the well-known and well-loved 2-½-year-old female—and she passed her exam with flying colors! But what does a doctor’s appointment look like for a big bear like Juniper? Let us take a behind-the-scenes peek at all the ins, outs and in-betweens of Juniper’s day at the “doctor’s office.”
Aside from medical care for illness or injury, all our animals get routine health and wellness checkups—but how often that happens depends on the species and what our veterinary staff recommends to best meet their needs. In the case of our brown bears, they are examined every 3 years, with Juniper up first and Fern’s (Juniper’s BFF and “housemate”) checkup likely scheduled for next year.
 |
| Juniper got a thorough checkup at our animal hospital. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
Transporting an animal to Woodland Park Zoo’s veterinary hospital is not always necessary or even possible for some of our larger zoo residents. Our veterinarians do have the ability to “make house calls” when needed—but the animal hospital is an ideal place for a medical check when it is doable. No matter where an exam takes place, one of the most important aspects of our animal health protocols is making sure the process is as stress-free as possible for our animals. This is where regular training and trust-building with animal keepers and our veterinary staff comes into play.
Since they were cubs, both Fern and Juniper have voluntarily participated in near-daily or weekly separate training sessions (with plenty of yummy treats involved!) where they each lie down calmly in a behind-the-scenes chute that has small openings where trained staff can safely touch various parts of their bodies. Being asked to “present” different body parts like their paws, the sides of their faces, and to open their mouths allows their care team to get a good look at their whole bodies while they’re awake.
 |
| Now THAT is a big paw! Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo |
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| These big claws allow bears to dig up roots, excavate dens and more. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo |
Both bears are used to being separated during these training sessions and when eating. For training, the separation allows keepers to focus 100% of their attention on one bear at a time. And during mealtimes, it allows the keepers to make sure each bear gets enough to eat. Foods like greens and vegetables can be shared and eaten together as the bears aren’t likely to fight over these so-called “lower-value” foods, but “higher-value” foods like meat and fruit are always offered separately. This gives each bear some reassurance that they will not have to compete with the other for food—a key necessity to keep the peace when housing bears together.
A thorough health check requires a little more hands-on approach then a training session, so being desensitized to getting touched on the hip area—for example—allows our animal care staff to do things like administer vaccines or medicines without having to dart either bear or stress them out. This is how Juniper was hand-injected with anesthetic medications on the morning of her exam. No fuss, no muss and she was soon sound asleep.
 |
| Our staff provides top-notch care for this Very Important Patient. Photo: John Loughlin/Woodland Park Zoo |
As a sub-adult—both of our brown bears will turn 3 years old this winter—Juniper is not quite fully-grown yet, so this could be the last time she’s actually “small enough” (a very relative term in this case) to transport down to our hospital facility. According to animal keeper Maddie who stayed with Juniper throughout her checkup, it took EIGHT members of the animal care team to hoist her in and out of the animal ambulance (remember, she clocks in at around 400 lbs.) and they also needed a couple of carts with wheels to cover the distance between her exhibit and the vehicle plus the exam room at the animal hospital. She may still be on the young side, but she is already a big girl, just as she is supposed to be!
During Juniper's exam, our veterinary staff took blood and urine samples, listened to her heart and lungs, examined her teeth, took radiographs (x-rays), and performed an ultrasound to get a closer look at some of her organs. The conclusion? Juniper is meeting all normal and expected milestones for a growing sub-adult brown bear. In other words, she’s in great shape! In total, the exam took around a couple hours to complete and Juniper was back home in her Living Northwest Trail habitat before noon.
 |
| During her exam, our veterinary staff and animal keepers looked after Juniper with great care. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
All the while, Fern was cool as a cucumber while her bestie was away. In the weeks before Juniper’s July exam our animal keepers separated the bears for longer periods of time than normal so that Fern could get used to being out on the public side of the habitat for a while without Juniper. It also allowed the keepers to learn what Fern would need in order to stay busy and calm on her own, so they could set her up for success!
On the day of the exam Fern got her whole day’s worth of food at once (normally her meals are separated out) scattered throughout the habitat area so she could have fun sniffing and foraging around. They also gave her all sorts of toys that she usually only has access to behind the scenes, and they hid special yummy treats like nuts around the entire exhibit. This strategy also made her super full and super tired first thing in the morning—just like us after a big meal and play sesh! So basically, Fern spent all morning eating, playing with toys and napping—a bear's favorite things to do.
.jpg) |
| Fern kept busy while her bestie was getting a health check. She spent her morning eating. playing and napping! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
Fern and Juniper’s reunion that afternoon was nice and uneventful. Once Juniper was steady on her feet and walking around, she began making a vocalization called a “contact call.” This is a kind of call made between a mother and her cubs, or between littermates to help them keep tabs on each other. Fern heard Juniper’s call, so the keepers let the girls have visual access to each other through a mesh door in their indoor holding area. They sniffed each other and licked each other’s faces through the mesh—which is (according to keeper Maddie) insanely cute but is also a sign that neither of them was irritated or holding a grudge from the separation. Clearly Fern and Juniper were more than ready to be back together.
Once they were reunited Fern and Juniper had access to the whole exhibit—both the public and behind-the-scenes “holding” areas—but they chose to hang out in the holding area for a while. Juniper “celebrated” the reunion by throwing her favorite toys around the yard. (If you’ve watched Juniper for any period of time, you’ll know she is very skilled at tossing things into the air—food, sticks, plants—anything she gets a hold of.) Later that evening both bears were swimming in their pool together and by the next day everything was back to business as usual.
The weight of a brown bear fluctuates seasonally, and some wild bears have been documented to nearly double their weight in the fall as they prepare for winter! Currently Juniper is around 400 pounds, and Fern is 50-70 pounds less. Despite the weight difference due to them being from different populations (they are both brown bears— but Juniper is a coastal brown bear and Fern is grizzly which is a different sub-species that tends to be smaller) Juniper and Fern are the same age and should follow the same developmental timeline.
 |
| By the end of the day, Fern and Juniper were playing and swimming in their pool together. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
Lots of people ask us how much we expect each of our bears will weigh when they’re done growing—brown bears mature around 4-5 years of age so we would expect them to be fully grown by then. Any number would just be a guess at this point so it’s a question keeper Maddie likes to answer with “I can’t wait to find out”! Whatever comes to pass, we’re so happy that Juniper’s wellness exam went off without a hitch and that both girls are thriving since arriving at Woodland Park Zoo as orphans in 2022 (Juniper from Alaska and Fern from Montana). We think keeper Maddie has the right idea and we also can’t wait to see what the future brings for both of these boisterous girls.
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