Geriatric Grizzly Bear Care

Written by Curtis Malott, Zookeeper, North Carolina Zoo

One of the most common questions any keeper will get when doing keeper talks is how old is that animal? For Tommo, the grizzly bear, that answer is 30. 

This is usually followed by “Really!? That old?! I didn’t know bears could live that long!” 

30 is old for bears. In the wild, most bears are lucky to make it to 20 years; under in human care, 25-30 years old is typically average. Animals age like humans in a lot of ways. Medical issues start to show up, arthritis starts to affect joints, and they sleep even more than they already do. All of this affects how caring for our geriatric bear has changed over the course of his life. 

As his keepers, we have to be aware of what Tommo is able to do. Mostly it’s a lot of little changes that fit his stage of life. When he was younger, he spent a lot of time engaging with enrichment, playing with different items, and destroying just about everything we gave him. Now, for example, enrichment can no longer be hung up high because he doesn’t quite have the ability to reach it anymore. He spends less time destroying logs and more time shredding leaves. Coconuts are no longer easily broken open by smashing or biting, so we start to break it open for him. Because he is sleepier and has old joints, we always try to make sure he has comfortable places to sleep and rest. Lots of straw, mulch, pine needles, shavings, or firehose beds for Tommo to enjoy. 

We also work closely with our vet team to manage his healthcare by doing yearly physicals and performing medical procedures when needed. More importantly, Tommo voluntarily participates in his own healthcare through positive reinforcement training. Tommo allows us and our vets to look over his entire body, collect blood through a vein on his paw, trim his claws, get weights, and even give injections when needed. This allows our vets to look closely at all aspects of his health, such as lumps that started appearing all over is back end the last few years. These lumps turned out to be large fat deposits. His training and participation allow us to continue to monitor these lumps to ensure they remain fat deposits and are not impeding him in any way. 

As Tommo continues to age, our care for him will change and evolve. It could mean adjustments to his diets, expanding his training to include more voluntary procedures, medications, or supplements to manage different ailments or even different priorities in enrichment and his habitat design. Thinking of how his care and mobility will change over the next few years, we decided it was time for a remodel of his habitat. This remodel will create more soft spots and usable area for Tommo as well as making it easier for him to get around and reach all areas as he ages. As a bonus, he will also get to come face to face with a lot of guests.

Tommo still shows flashes of that young bear he was, playing with different items, shredding browse and splashing around in his pool. It is our job not to let him loose those youthful, goofy characteristics that make up his personality.