Bears seen 'swanning' about on pedalo

With the copious amounts of wet weather we have been having recently, a new mini lake formed in the North American black bear’s enclosure, so we had the idea of turning this into interesting enrichment for them.   

The newly formed lake prompted the idea for keepers, plus there was a swan boat awaiting new pedals, so it seemed like a fun plan to see if the bears would climb aboard.

Keepers hoped the bears would find this an interesting addition to their 13-acre woodland reserve, and they were delighted to see the four younger cubs head straight over to investigate their new ‘friend’. The 'sleuth' of bears was immediately intrigued and wasted no time in investigating the swan peddle boat.

Bears are naturally very curious animals, and keepers will encourage this with all kinds of enrichment through their habitat as this keeps their minds and bodies active.  The swan boat enrichment may be a less conventional approach to stimulating their natural behaviours, but it certainly was a hit.

The young sibling black bears are two males and two females, and they spend a lot of time foraging, play fighting, eating and sleeping.  Named Harvard, Maple, Colorado and Aspen, the bears are named for their North American origins in the wild.

Deputy Head of Carnivores Tommy Babbington said “It was great fun for visitors to seeing them climb on board, and we love devising new ways to provide food, scent and habitat enrichment that stimulates their natural foraging behaviours.”

Not only did the bears love their new piece of enrichment, but it appears you did too, as our recently posted TikTok video has been making the news both nationally and internationally, reaching as far as Germany and Spain!

Check out the viral video below:

Spot the bears on Safari!

Bears are naturally quite playful characters and you can spot them on our Road Safari, as well as many of the other endangered species at Woburn Safari Park.