Meet Grinder!
We visited Grouse Mountain today and had an amazing experience. We saw the two grizzlies, Grinder and Coola, and took in the Birds in Motion show, where we saw a great horned owl (who flew so close to us that he nearly brushed our heads with his wings), a hawk, a turkey vulture, and a gyrfalcon -- all up close and personal with a very well informed handler to explain the creatures to us.
Here's more on the bears:
Leading the way in education and wildlife conservation initiatives, the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife, in North Vancouver, Canada, acts as a wilderness sanctuary for animals, while offering leading-edge interpretive programs for thousands of guests each year.
Grinder and Coola are the resident grizzly bears at the refuge. Grinder was found in 2001 in Invermere, BC, wandering alone on a logging road. He was dehydrated, weak and significantly underweight. Coola was also found in 2001, near Bella Coola, BC. His mother had been killed by a truck and, of the three cubs she left behind, Coola was the only one to survive.
Grouse Mountain’s large alpine refuge allows these bears to behave much like they would in the wild, and this gives researchers at the refuge a chance to observe and document their behaviour and development. This research goes a long way to contribute to the development of viable, sanctioned rehabilitation protocols for orphaned grizzlies, now and in the future.
Meet Grinder!
We visited Grouse Mountain today and had an amazing experience. We saw the two grizzlies, Grinder and Coola, and took in the Birds in Motion show, where we saw a great horned owl (who flew so close to us that he nearly brushed our heads with his wings), a hawk, a turkey vulture, and a gyrfalcon -- all up close and personal with a very well informed handler to explain the creatures to us.
Here's more on the bears:
Leading the way in education and wildlife conservation initiatives, the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife, in North Vancouver, Canada, acts as a wilderness sanctuary for animals, while offering leading-edge interpretive programs for thousands of guests each year.
Grinder and Coola are the resident grizzly bears at the refuge. Grinder was found in 2001 in Invermere, BC, wandering alone on a logging road. He was dehydrated, weak and significantly underweight. Coola was also found in 2001, near Bella Coola, BC. His mother had been killed by a truck and, of the three cubs she left behind, Coola was the only one to survive.
Grouse Mountain’s large alpine refuge allows these bears to behave much like they would in the wild, and this gives researchers at the refuge a chance to observe and document their behaviour and development. This research goes a long way to contribute to the development of viable, sanctioned rehabilitation protocols for orphaned grizzlies, now and in the future.