If you’ve read Aspen in Moonlight, you know I love bears. I saw this video yesterday and couldn’t resist sharing it with you.
This is what happiness looks like. Watching this video, I marvel at how human-like Takoda, the bear, appears. Perhaps instead I should be intrigued by how bear-like we humans can be.
Takoda, by the way, is an orphaned black bear from Montana who was deemed unsafe to be returned to the wild. Human-food habituated bears become deemed “nuisance animals” and they often end up being killed as relocation efforts frequently fail. He’s been residing at the Oregon Zoo since 2010 where he was named Takoda, which means “friend” in the Lakota Sioux language, in honor of his homeland.
Did you know many zoos are struggling because of covid-19 closures? You might want to reach out to your local accredited zoological park or aquarium and see what you can do to help. The animals and their caretakers depend on us.
Kelly Wacker 