The video clip above depicts Munsey, Boda and Dodge after they were rescued on Kodiak Island and taken to the Zoo in Anchorage.
The photographs (above the video clip) were taken shortly after the cubs arrived at the Wildwood Zoo in Marshfield Wisconsin.
The video link below explains the rescue story of Munsey, Boda and Dodge and includes photographs of when the cubs were first rescued. I also recommend that you check out the two links that are provided with this video, to learn about the Grand Opening and other information about the rescue of the Kodiak Bear Cubs.
The link below is a video of Munsey and Boda’s first Birthday party that was celebrated at Wildwood Zoo in Marshfield, Wiscosnin.
Tree climbing is a favorite pass time for the cubs. Here are two video clips of Munsey and Boda climbing the tree’s. The first video is of the cubs climbing in October 2015 and the other two video’s depict the cubs climbing the tree’s in April of 2017.
Munsey and Boda have a brother Dodge that lives at the To
ledo Zoo in Ohio. Dodge has bonded with two female Grizzly cubs. To learn more about Dodge, go to the follwing links below.
Since I’ve been documenting the rescued Kodiak bear cubs since October 2015, I’ve taken thousands of photographs. So when I over heard the zoo staff talking about the dental health of the bears, I thought I might be able to provide a some assistance.
I returned to my computer and began looking for photographs that happened to of captured the bears with their mouths open and teeth exposed. I then labeled each image file to include the word teeth, so the images would be easy to retrieve and share with the zoo staff. These images assist the zoo staff with a better understanding of the growth and dental health of the bears over a period of time.
I thought it might be interesting to share some close up photographs of the paws of a two year old Kodiak bear.
The paws are huge and have unbelievable strength and agility!
As I continue to observe the Kodiak bear cubs, I’m astonished by the cubs ability to manipulate the claws with the same agility as a human. The hump on the Kodiak bear is made of muscle which developed presumably for imparting force in digging and helps with when constructing dens.
This week I began recording the movements and activities of Munsey and Boda. The last time I had done a detailed documentation of the cubs was in late October and early November of 2016.
It’s always interesting to get a more in-depth view of the bears and discover patterns schedules and characteristics that I wouldn’t of noticed if I hadn’t taken the time to graph the detailed movements of the bears.
This information is always shared with the staff at Wildwood Zoo, including the photographs and video’s. It’s my personal way of repaying the Zoo for all the time I spend there while photographically recording the cubs growth and development since they arrived in October of 2015.
On Monday I also had taken photographs and video’s to match the written documentation, so if someone wanted to look at the documentation in the distant future, they could go back in time and see the cubs as they were in the past, while I was graphing and taking notes on their behavior.
Each image has a designated period of time added to the digital file number to use with the graphing chart and notations that were taken at that specific time.
Whenever I post images of Munsey and Boda splashing in the pools / ponds or wrestling around in the Bear Woods , please remember that these bears are created with built in protective gear! I think of them as high school hockey players, they have the equipment to play very rough and not hurt each other.
Munsey and Boda often drop their favorite toys down in the pit! (The PIT is a section of the old bear exhibit that drops about 15 to 20 feet down and was created to keep the old bears inside the bear exhibit without using a fence or other obstructive devices that would block the vision for the zoo guest while watching the bears.
Munsey and Boda often drop their red and blue balls and favorite fire hose in the pit and wait for the staff to retrieve the toys. The problem is that the bears do this fairly often and then the bears attempt to retrieve the toys themselves. Thank goodness the zoo staff comes and retrieves the items but these bears behave exactly like a child that two years of age, so you know the ball’s going down into the PIT again in the near future.
Interaction with zoo guest’s in always a great experience for everyone! People are thrilled to see the cubs up close and personal! I’m thrilled to be able to photograph and video the bears without dealing with light reflecting off the fencing! Keep in mind I really appreciate the devices used keep the bears and zoo guests safe at Wildwood Zoo. If not for those devices, I’d never be able to document the Kodiak bears with such ease and consistency.
I’m looking forward to working on my five days of graphing documentation to see what new things the zoo staff and I can learn about Munsey and Boda and compare the information to my last charts and future charts.
Munsey and Boda have a brother Dodge that lives at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio. Didge has bonded with two female Grizzly cubs. To learn more about Dodge go to the following links…
In the last week or so, I’v noticed that Munsey and Boda have been observing the construction crew working on a new building that’s going to be located on the north side of the Bear Woods. At times the bears would sit by the fence for 30 to 45 minutes watching the crew as they worked on the new project.
I really hadn’t thought that the bears could be learning new skills while watching the construction crew until I observed Munsey using a skill that I’d never seen him perform since his arrival at Wildwood Zoo.
I’m sure that Munsey and Boda had the ability to move large branches around in this fashion before but this is the first time I’ve ever seen them maneuver the branches while walking on his hind legs.
On the day Munsey was performing this action the construction workers hadn’t been working at the zoo because of poor weather conditions.
Munsey and Boda had a refreshing snack of pineapple and coconuts this morning. The only problem with a coconut, is trying to figure out how to crack the thing open,to get the good stuff inside!
Here’s Munsey (above photograph) trying to figure out how to crack the shell of the coconut.
Boda managed to figure out the secret of cracking and opening the coconut shell but poor Munsey just couldn’t get the shell to crack!
It’s a rainy and at the very least a drizzly kind of day and it’s my birthday. I was determined to get a few photographs of Munsey and Boda today. So with an umbrella in hand I went to Wildwood Zoo hoping to get a few interesting photographs of the boys and they did not disappoint!
Boda was up the tree when I arrived and I’m still amazed that the branch he’s standing on, held up under the weight of almost 600 lbs.!
So when Boda is descending from the tree he reminds me of Whinny The Pooh , stuck in the doorway of the his den. It appears that descending requires far more thought, time and talent than climbing up the tree! Boda should know that he’s too big for tree climbing! Maybe I should get him some rock climbing gear!
While Boda was trimming the limbs off the tree, Munsey was gathering and moving the fallen tree limbs that would become the bears late morning snack.
I’m really looking forward to working on the next Munsey and Boda book that has these tree climbing adventures and new information of the cubs growth and activities!
I spent four hours photographing Munsey and Boda on April 17th. Munsey’s weight is about 575 pounds and Boda’s weight is about 594 pounds. On April 17th, 2016 the cubs weights was 230 pounds and in October of 2015 the cubs weights was 120-130 pounds.
Munsey has been initiating the wrestling matches over the Winter months , while Boda was moving a bit slower because of the Winter weather. Munsey favorite way to bother Boda is to pull Boda’s ear. Now that spring has arrived Munsey and Boda are as active as ever and during their active periods they will usually wrestle with each other about four times during a 60 minute period of time. One of the best times of day to see these guys in action in the Bear Woods is usually around 9:00 am – 11:00 am.
You can find them playing tag, having water fights in the Bear Pond and bathing.
Munsey’s favorite water activity is finding a nice size rock and placing it on his nose or forehead and launching it into the air.
The bears should of stopped climbing tree’s about 12 months ago but on March 17th, 2017, I watched Boda climbing back up one of his favorite trees in the Bear Woods.
There’s something just not right about a 600 pound bear climbing up a tree! I guess the bears were curious about the sounds of a chain saw that was cutting down one of the large tree’s at Wildwood Zoo that day. Of-course the bears love the taste of those tender new leaves on the tree but it takes a lot of energy for Munsey and Boda to get their muscular bodies up into the tree’s as well as getting themselves back down to the ground.
You can see the difference in the growth of the cubs since they arrived in October 2015.
On March 17th, 2017, I photographed Munsey climbing this tree trunk and standing on top of the trunk. The Kodiak cubs never cease to amaze me!
Munsey and Boda often drop their favorite toys down in the pit! (The PIT is a section of the old bear exhibit that drops about 15 to 20 feet down and was created to keep the old bears inside the bear exhibit without using a fence or other obstructive devices that would block the vision for the zoo guest while watching the bears.
You can find them playing tag, having water fights in the Bear Pond and bathing.
iMAGiNETHAT! 