Posted by Elizabeth Bacher, Communications with Animal Keeper Maddie Weholt
With Fall just around the corner, our thoughts turn to crisp weather, colorful leaves, apple picking and warm snuggles with blankets and cups of cocoa—the perfect hygge recipe! The coming of fall means changes for our brown bear besties too! They are turning their attention to all things related to food and upcoming nap opportunities. It’s an ideal time to check in with Animal Keeper Maddie on what autumn has in store for Juniper and Fern.
WPZ: Juniper and Fern are both 3 years old now, turning 4 this coming winter—so almost full grown. How are they doing?
Keeper Maddie: Both bears are doing well. It’s super cool to me to see that the personalities they’ve had since arriving here 3 years ago (in 2022) as youngsters have stayed incredibly consistent now that they are on the young side of adulthood. Bears are very honest animals—they are who they are!
Juniper is still very boisterous and silly and is often seen throwing sticks around in the pool or “playing” with guests through the glass.
Fern is still generally more of a serious, stoic bear but she does have a silly side! Every so often she will lie on her back in the shallow end of their pool with all four feet in the air, waving them around.
Fern is a thinker. She methodically rolls her toys around or puts them in a corner to spin. She knows exactly how to get the food the fastest and her methods are much more intentional than Juniper’s! Fern cares more about the pay-out, Juniper cares more about the fun had along the way.
While Juniper is outwardly silly, Fern is secretly silly. Juniper likes attention from people and definitely hams it up for guests who laugh as they watch her funny antics, like throwing sticks and rocks around. On the other hand, Fern does funny things when she thinks nobody is watching (class clown vs. quiet girl with a great sense of humor). I once saw Fern trying so hard to balance a tiny 6-inch diameter boomer ball on her back foot just for fun. When she saw me watching her, she stopped.
Fern is a little more nervous about new things but has smaller reactions when something startles her. Juniper has big loud reactions when startled by something. Fern has a larger comfort zone than Juniper but is less likely to step outside her comfort zone. Juniper has a smaller comfort zone but is more willing to step outside and do things that scare her.
Personality-wise, they really couldn’t be more different!
What changes have you noticed in Juniper and Fern over this last year? Anything significant?
Honestly, nothing huge! Their personalities have remained consistent as has their relationship with each other. Juniper and Fern may be opposites in many ways, but they get along very well and have very complimentary personalities.
They weigh more now than they did last July but that’s not surprising given they are still on the young side of adulthood. We expect they are probably both done growing at this point and will start to fall into pretty consistent annual weight patterns. At last check, Juniper was weighing in at just under 480 pounds and Fern is about 40 pounds lighter—which makes sense since she is a smaller subspecies of brown bear.* But their weights fluctuate a lot with the seasons, which is completely normal.
Have their food preferences changed? What favorites does each of them have? I know we're coming into the hyperphagia time of the year for them, so will there be diet changes coming up?
Food preferences have stayed the same for both bears. Fern still prefers meat over produce whereas Juniper prefers fruit. Grapes are the #1 favorite food for both bears with mixed nuts being a favorite to search for when we scatter them throughout the habitat, and honey as their training reward.
Their diets have been steadily increasing since February and will continue to increase until late October. Right now, their appetites are rapidly increasing as they enter a state called hyperphagia (a biological urge to eat excessively to rapidly gain weight and build up fat reserves for winter). After that, we will begin to decrease the amount of food they get based on how much they’re leaving uneaten as they start slowing down for winter. Sometimes there are weeks in between diet changes and sometimes only days. One rule of being a bear keeper is to never memorize diets because of how frequently they change!
What should guests be looking for over the next months and year with these two "still-growing girls"?
As they move into hyperphagia there will likely be less playing between the two of them because they are a little more irritable and food is the one thing on the brain. Last year we noticed they spent more time napping apart rather than sharing a bed, until they started getting sleepy and their appetites decreased. Then they were back to snuggling and they shared a den all winter.
A lot of people ask us if the bears are hibernating while they’re sleeping. Our bears don’t technically hibernate. Instead, they enter “torpor” which is a kind of sleepy state with significant physiological changes like a reduced heart rate, slower breathing and slowed metabolism—living off the fat reserves they packed on during hyperphagia.
This will be their second year with 24/7 access to a den for the winter, so it’s another big learning year for us! We are excited to see what they do and share info about their seasonality with our guests who hopefully find it as fascinating as we all do. We will be livestreaming their den camera on the screen in the Riverhouse (the building adjacent to their habitat) when they start using it just like last year, so visitors may still be able to see them napping on-screen even when they’re not out-and-about in their space.
*A NOTE ABOUT BROWN BEARS: Both of our bears, who live in the Living Northwest Trail part of the zoo, were born in winter of 2022 and came here as orphans after losing their mothers. Juniper and Fern are both brown bears and members of the same species, Ursus arctos. But Fern is an interior brown bear (also known as a “grizzly bear”) from Montana, while Juniper is an Alaskan coastal brown bear—a larger subspecies. Scientifically speaking, all grizzlies are brown bears, but not all brown bears are grizzlies.
You can find links to our previous blogs about Juniper and Fern’s rescues as cubs and all their brown bear shenanigans over the last few years—as well as information about bear conservation and recovery efforts here: https://blog.zoo.org/search?q=juniper+fern
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| BFFs, Juniper and Fern, are doing BFF things as they prepare for fall. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
With Fall just around the corner, our thoughts turn to crisp weather, colorful leaves, apple picking and warm snuggles with blankets and cups of cocoa—the perfect hygge recipe! The coming of fall means changes for our brown bear besties too! They are turning their attention to all things related to food and upcoming nap opportunities. It’s an ideal time to check in with Animal Keeper Maddie on what autumn has in store for Juniper and Fern.
WPZ: Juniper and Fern are both 3 years old now, turning 4 this coming winter—so almost full grown. How are they doing?
Keeper Maddie: Both bears are doing well. It’s super cool to me to see that the personalities they’ve had since arriving here 3 years ago (in 2022) as youngsters have stayed incredibly consistent now that they are on the young side of adulthood. Bears are very honest animals—they are who they are!
Juniper is still very boisterous and silly and is often seen throwing sticks around in the pool or “playing” with guests through the glass.
Fern is still generally more of a serious, stoic bear but she does have a silly side! Every so often she will lie on her back in the shallow end of their pool with all four feet in the air, waving them around.
I hope these bears never lose their silly sides even as they grow older.
Do they still play a lot with each other or with toys—which includes things they might find that they make into “toys”? What does that look like and what are the biggest "personality" differences between the two of them?
They sure do! They love to play chase. Both will initiate the game but Juniper is usually the chaser and Fern usually the one being chased. We always make sure there are logs or sticks floating in the pool because both bears enjoy playing with them. They will chew on them, and Juniper loves to put them on her head and fling them towards guests in the glass viewing area or across the pool to make a big splash. She also likes to try to sink the larger logs. We recently put a long skinny log in the pool that floats, and Juniper likes trying to stand or lay on it—like a kid with a pool noodle!
Their favorite toys are Boomer Balls. They have many different sizes ranging from 4-inch diameter to 3-foot diameter, and most have holes drilled in them so we can put treats inside that they have to work to get out.
Both bears love these toys, but they play with them very differently! Juniper is a do-er! She picks them up and throws them as hard as she can and then finds all the food that falls out. It sounds like a bowling alley when she is throwing all her toys around. With the smaller balls she serves them like a volleyball—always with her left paw (would a bear be left-handed or left-pawed?).
 |
| Both bears love to play chase and Juniper (seen here) is usually the "chaser"! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
Do they still play a lot with each other or with toys—which includes things they might find that they make into “toys”? What does that look like and what are the biggest "personality" differences between the two of them?
They sure do! They love to play chase. Both will initiate the game but Juniper is usually the chaser and Fern usually the one being chased. We always make sure there are logs or sticks floating in the pool because both bears enjoy playing with them. They will chew on them, and Juniper loves to put them on her head and fling them towards guests in the glass viewing area or across the pool to make a big splash. She also likes to try to sink the larger logs. We recently put a long skinny log in the pool that floats, and Juniper likes trying to stand or lay on it—like a kid with a pool noodle!
Their favorite toys are Boomer Balls. They have many different sizes ranging from 4-inch diameter to 3-foot diameter, and most have holes drilled in them so we can put treats inside that they have to work to get out.
Both bears love these toys, but they play with them very differently! Juniper is a do-er! She picks them up and throws them as hard as she can and then finds all the food that falls out. It sounds like a bowling alley when she is throwing all her toys around. With the smaller balls she serves them like a volleyball—always with her left paw (would a bear be left-handed or left-pawed?).
 |
| Photo: Beth Keplinger/Woodland Park Zoo |
Fern is a thinker. She methodically rolls her toys around or puts them in a corner to spin. She knows exactly how to get the food the fastest and her methods are much more intentional than Juniper’s! Fern cares more about the pay-out, Juniper cares more about the fun had along the way.
While Juniper is outwardly silly, Fern is secretly silly. Juniper likes attention from people and definitely hams it up for guests who laugh as they watch her funny antics, like throwing sticks and rocks around. On the other hand, Fern does funny things when she thinks nobody is watching (class clown vs. quiet girl with a great sense of humor). I once saw Fern trying so hard to balance a tiny 6-inch diameter boomer ball on her back foot just for fun. When she saw me watching her, she stopped.
Fern is a little more nervous about new things but has smaller reactions when something startles her. Juniper has big loud reactions when startled by something. Fern has a larger comfort zone than Juniper but is less likely to step outside her comfort zone. Juniper has a smaller comfort zone but is more willing to step outside and do things that scare her.
Personality-wise, they really couldn’t be more different!
 |
| Fern is a "thinker." Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
What changes have you noticed in Juniper and Fern over this last year? Anything significant?
Honestly, nothing huge! Their personalities have remained consistent as has their relationship with each other. Juniper and Fern may be opposites in many ways, but they get along very well and have very complimentary personalities.
They weigh more now than they did last July but that’s not surprising given they are still on the young side of adulthood. We expect they are probably both done growing at this point and will start to fall into pretty consistent annual weight patterns. At last check, Juniper was weighing in at just under 480 pounds and Fern is about 40 pounds lighter—which makes sense since she is a smaller subspecies of brown bear.* But their weights fluctuate a lot with the seasons, which is completely normal.
 |
| Juniper loves tossing things into the air and across the exhibit space! Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo |
Have their food preferences changed? What favorites does each of them have? I know we're coming into the hyperphagia time of the year for them, so will there be diet changes coming up?
Food preferences have stayed the same for both bears. Fern still prefers meat over produce whereas Juniper prefers fruit. Grapes are the #1 favorite food for both bears with mixed nuts being a favorite to search for when we scatter them throughout the habitat, and honey as their training reward.
Their diets have been steadily increasing since February and will continue to increase until late October. Right now, their appetites are rapidly increasing as they enter a state called hyperphagia (a biological urge to eat excessively to rapidly gain weight and build up fat reserves for winter). After that, we will begin to decrease the amount of food they get based on how much they’re leaving uneaten as they start slowing down for winter. Sometimes there are weeks in between diet changes and sometimes only days. One rule of being a bear keeper is to never memorize diets because of how frequently they change!
 |
| Photo: Beth Keplinger/Woodland Park Zoo |
What should guests be looking for over the next months and year with these two "still-growing girls"?
As they move into hyperphagia there will likely be less playing between the two of them because they are a little more irritable and food is the one thing on the brain. Last year we noticed they spent more time napping apart rather than sharing a bed, until they started getting sleepy and their appetites decreased. Then they were back to snuggling and they shared a den all winter.
A lot of people ask us if the bears are hibernating while they’re sleeping. Our bears don’t technically hibernate. Instead, they enter “torpor” which is a kind of sleepy state with significant physiological changes like a reduced heart rate, slower breathing and slowed metabolism—living off the fat reserves they packed on during hyperphagia.
This will be their second year with 24/7 access to a den for the winter, so it’s another big learning year for us! We are excited to see what they do and share info about their seasonality with our guests who hopefully find it as fascinating as we all do. We will be livestreaming their den camera on the screen in the Riverhouse (the building adjacent to their habitat) when they start using it just like last year, so visitors may still be able to see them napping on-screen even when they’re not out-and-about in their space.
 |
| Photo: Beth Keplinger/Woodland Park Zoo |
*A NOTE ABOUT BROWN BEARS: Both of our bears, who live in the Living Northwest Trail part of the zoo, were born in winter of 2022 and came here as orphans after losing their mothers. Juniper and Fern are both brown bears and members of the same species, Ursus arctos. But Fern is an interior brown bear (also known as a “grizzly bear”) from Montana, while Juniper is an Alaskan coastal brown bear—a larger subspecies. Scientifically speaking, all grizzlies are brown bears, but not all brown bears are grizzlies.
You can find links to our previous blogs about Juniper and Fern’s rescues as cubs and all their brown bear shenanigans over the last few years—as well as information about bear conservation and recovery efforts here: https://blog.zoo.org/search?q=juniper+fern
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