Congratulations on 3rd birthday Juniper and Fern! It's a snooze party!

Posted by Kirsten Pisto/Communication with Animal Holder Maddie Weholt
Photos of Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Congratulations on 3rd birthday to Juniper and Fern!

Since their arrival at Woodland Park Zoo in 2022, Brown Bears saved Juniper, and Fern has been snuggling into almost any heart in the Puget sound. They are now snuggled up in their very own hole – Dreaming of Spring!

Brown bears under a lazy wrestle-sah on a Denbreak in January 2025.

Both cubs were rescued from their original habitats. Juniper is a coastal brown bear from Anchorage, Alaska; Fern is a grizzly bear from Montana. They were too young to survive on their own. It is estimated that the kids were born in January 2022.

A picture from the cam shows Fern and Juniper tightly as it can be! January 2025

Fern and Juniper bound quickly after being introduced to Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest Trail in November 2022 and the rest is history. We can’t believe these love muffins will be three! While we do not know their exact birthdays, we choose to celebrate them on January 31 – a great day for a birthday in Brown Bear. Their first birthday was a bash, their second birthday was much more chill, but this year it’s a snooze party! January is the natural time for brown bears to slow down and hollow up to winter. This winter, both girls have been in Torpor (it’s Brunbjørn for Sleepy, Relaxing, Cozy Season), so we wait until spring to throw them the party they deserve.

To celebrate these sleepy beauties, we asked Animal keeper Maddie to catch up on what Juniper and Fern have done (or not to do), and explain what “hibernation” really means to these two – and why they seem to increase their games in the cozy department. Currently, the bears have 24/7 access to their outdoor exhibition as well as one behind the scenes where they can really get some uninterrupted snoozing in (if they choose to do so). Visitors still have to stop at the vibrant northwestern path because the bears might just be out, plus there is a secret den-Cam in Nysether Family Riverhouse where you can see them coset into their behind the scenes (absolutely sweet).

February 2024

We can’t believe the girls are three! They have grown so much since just last year. How much do they weigh now?

Maddie: Their weights change weekly all year round, right now they are in weight. Both hit their high weights for the season in late October. Juniper’s high weight was 491 lb and Ferns High was 441 LB. Both bears have lost approx. 40 lb since then, and we expect them to continue to lose weight until about April or May. If we weigh them today, these weights would be wrong again when you read this post – they change so much! Some weeks swing their weight by only one pound or so, some weeks they lose close to 10 lb! We weigh them weekly all year round and continue to do what their sleepiness allows. So far this winter has only a weekly weighing skipped due to sleepy bears – you know how they say “Leave a sleeping dog lying”? Same applies to bears! We wouldn’t purposefully wake them up just to be weighed. What are their favorite goodies at the moment?

Maddie: Right now, they don’t get any goodies because all their favorite foods are very high in calories, which can affect a bear’s ability to torp! But both bears favorite goodies are grapes, honey and mixed nuts. Fern prefers meat over all other fruits and vegetables, einer prefers fruits and vegetables rather than meat.

A Bear Bestie Greetings. March 2024

We know that they have been snuggling together in their hole or bear, but we have also noticed the fern on her beamborne and ein looking at the trout, other activities they seem to enjoy recently?

Maddie: There have been some days, they have been inside the cave almost all day, and some days they have been outside more than inside. We’ve seen them eat grass (normal for bears seasonally), have small bouts of the zoomies and simply meander around their exhibition. Both like to sit on the back of the exhibition where they can see that Keepers is going from the bear office to Mountain Goat child or down to Otter Holding – they like to know what we have up to! Junipers like to sit on the rocks opposite the lower bear point of view, and Fern enjoys seeing the fish also from the rocks. When inside the cave, they either sleep, rest or lazy wrestling.
Any fun insight you would like to share about taking care of these pearls?

Maddie: This is still very much a learning and information collection year, and we really see something a little different with the bears pretty much every day! They gained access to the private hole for the first time this season on December 24th. They scoped it out, but didn’t really start consistently by using it before about three days later – at that time they treated the cave as their winter exercise. They made some adjustments and have since decided the private hole seems like a better place to sleep winter away. They will occasionally still check the cave, but it’s definitely not every day. We have also seen footage overnight and they have both spent the night in the cave consistently.

Under Pumpkin Bash 2024. Pumpkins wasn’t a chance!

If you assume that this sleepy winter is the new norm for them (until spring) … can you explain “hibernation” and what it actually means to our bears?

Maddie: I like to explain that “hibernation” in bears is not like real hibernation seen in other animals such as some amphibians or some small mammals. Torpor is a more accurate word for what bears do because everything brakes far down, but no bodily functions actually shut down/stop. One of the coolest things about the bear body is that their inner body temperature does not fall much – the bears are able to wake up quickly if they need it. This is an important survival strategy if the bear’s hole begins to collapse and because the morbjorn is giving birth under Torpor, they can still act quickly if another bear or predator tries to get into the cave and get after cubs.

I always tell people that I like to think of Torpor as a spectrum – carrier is not fast asleep for months at a time. I like to say that’s how you fall asleep on the couch and wake up without knowing what time it is or even what day it is, then you fall back to sleep – it’s kind of like that for months at a time! Our girls have done something a little different every winter that they have lived here, and our management has evolved every year when we learn more about what they need. Neither Bear had the opportunity to hollow up and Torpor with their mothers, so they learn more about what they also need every year. Both have shown a lot of natural seasonal provision since they first came here – which is not always the case when young bears come into human care. They have always begun their diet fall by leaving food in late fall, which lets us know that they are ready to run for the season.

The first year they were reeeeeally sleepy for about a month, but it was. They still changed and ate some every day. The second year they slept harder, so in January we laid up in the cave for them so they would have a nice place to sleep and they took it like moths for a flame. Some days they would come in for food, other days they would not, and we generally took more of a hands-off approach with them to see what they would do. This lasted a little over a month, and is really what made us think about what else we could provide for them in the winter to allow them to really lean into their natural season and Torpin – which brings us this year. The bears now have 24/7 access to their exhibition and keep holes in the winter, so they have full choice of where they will be. We had already built in a cave into their holding area and now let the bears take full advantage of it! If they are up, we offer food and if they sleep, we let them be. It is a very fluid type of leadership that is completely tailor -made for what our specific bears need. I am sure we will continue to learn more every year and will further adapt our control of our lovely bear ladies in the coming years.

Enjoying a blue-sky spring day in March 2024

Do they eat much less during this time?

Maddie: Much less. Right now, they only eat one bland diet with Omnivore Chow (offered ad lib) and ½ one pound of vegetables per day. Day – if they wake up! There have been a few days this winter where they have not been up at all and have not eaten anything.

Compare it to mid -September when they received the most food (when they are in hyperfagi): Juniper got 28 pounds of food a day (meat/kibble/fruits and vegetables) and Fern got 24 lb of food a day (meat/kibble, fruits and vegetables)! Each bear also received about 4 heads with Romaine salad, and varying enrichment food they had to feed on.

Fern scopes out of the stream. February 2024

Juniper takes a dip! October 2024

Sleeping through January doesn’t sound half bad! Maybe we could learn a little from these two. How much of the day do they really sleep?

Maddie: Depends entirely on the day! I’m not sure I have a good number of estimates right now. Often they sleep for a while, then wake up and adjust or fight a little before falling back asleep. Sometimes they lie down but rest instead of sleeping. And some days they will play at the exhibition a little! I would say that I feel they are sleeping harder during the day in the cave than they did in the bear car – it is much quieter and has no visual distractions.

Juniper is the queen of the rocks! September 2024

Log Jam! November 2024 Beth Keplinger / Woodland Park Zoo

Thanks Animal keeper Maddie for this nice look at our snuggly birthday bears! We would also like to shout the fern and ein dedicated animal team teams and animal health care providers to ensure that these two live their bears best on Living Northwest Trail – under Torpor, Trout Spring, Summer Fruit Bliss, Pumpkin Season and All Year Round! We want juniper and ferns a beautiful year full of all their seasonal favorites!