Saturday, July 4, 2009

kiona and kachina





these two grizzly sisters came to the sfzoo in 2004 at just over a year old. they were orphaned in the wilds of montana and were mischief makin' for the second time when authorities decided they either had to find a home or be euthanized. sfzoo came to their rescue and gave them a home. their story prompted donations to build a new enclosure for them, grizzly gulch. they can been seen swimming in their pond, catching live fish (when available) during their enrichment or just wrestling with each other. if you watch them long enough they always seem to do something silly, or at least you can put silly dialog to their actions like in these photos. ...."what time is tea served?" and "i thought i saw the waitress..." or the drive thru window "you forgot my shake" and "the service here sucks" (its all in fun, these gals and all the other residents have feeding schedules.) ... you can tell them apart as kiona is the brunette and kachina is the blonde. ... the sisters are the first grizzlies to live at the zoo in almost fifteen years. the grizzly bear is a symbol not only of california but the roots of the sfzoo. one of the first animals to be part of the zoo when it was initially housed in golden gate park, was monarch the grizzly, who's image graces the state flag and whose decendants were residents at the zoo for a very long time.

1 comment:

  1. These Grizzly girls are truly gorgeous and fun. They act just like two sisters (which they are), that really enjoy eachother. They hang pretty close and it's amazing to get to see them up front and personal. It's incredible to see them bound across the meadow to jump in the pond and fish. They wrestle, they fish, they nap....who wouldnt love them?

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