SALT LAKE CITY — Hogle Zoo is bear-less for at least the next several years while the zoo prepares to construct its new Rocky Shores Exhibit on the zoo's west end.
The zoo's three black bears — Tuff, Cubby and Dale — were sent to the Oregon Zoo last month to accommodate preparations for the new west-end exhibit later this fall.
Rocky Shores will be the largest exhibit ever created at Utah's Hogle Zoo and should be completed by 2012.
It will be an extensive multi-animal habitat featuring polar bears, sea lions, seals and possibly other bears. Up-close viewing of the animals as they swim by will be possible through glassed areas, as well as views from ground level in a habitat depicting the physical, cultural and social landscape of the western shores of North America.
Zoo spokeswoman Holly Braithwaite said the female of the three bears, named Dale, came to Hogle Zoo in 2002 as an orphan cub that was found in Minnesota. Authorities with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources rescued her and raised her at a rehabilitation center. Because of the bear's close interactions with humans, she could not safely be released back into the wild.
She said Tuff, another one of the three bears, was born on a private breeder's property in Missouri and sold illegally (without permits). Officials confiscated the young bear, transferring him first to a licensed facility and then to Hogle Zoo in 2004.
The other male bear, Cubby, was born at Chahinkapa Zoo in North Dakota and moved to Hogle Zoo in 2003.
"According to the Oregon Zoo, Dale, Cubby and Tuff will be released into the exhibit for brief periods over the next couple weeks, as they slowly become acclimated to their surroundings," Braithwaite said. "Then the bears will be permanently moved into their new home sometime next month."
She said the three bears are doing well at their new home so far.
Braithwaite said the new Rocky Shores exhibit is being built exclusively for polar bears. "However, the exhibit habitats could be used for other species of bears, if necessary," she said.
She said it's not clear whether the zoo could get some or all of its former three black bears back, or simply obtain other new black bears after Rocky Shores is completed.
Braithwaite said the majority of the animals in the west end of the zoo are being moved to other areas within the zoo.
e-mail: lynn@desnews.com