Black bears at a rescue center in New Hampshire are bulking up for the winter with the help of some donated apples.
The Kilham Bear Center posted two videos on their Instagram that you don’t want to miss.
The most recent post is of a young black bear named Taz who’s so excited about the apples that the animal is rolling in them. Another video shows a group of bears enjoying their supper of apples.
The bear center cares for orphaned and abandoned black bear cubs in the New England area. The center opened in 1993 and focuses on rehabbing and rereleasing these bears to the wild. The center is closed to the public, so the bears avoid interacting with humans.
The organization’s website says local Fish and Game officials will often bring them bears. Cubs will spend about a year at the center before being released the following spring.
The center has multiple enclosures that allow the young bears to train and prepare for rerelease into the wild, including learning foraging and climbing skills. There are also human-made dens for the bears’ winter sleep.
Besides caring for bears, the center also helps researchers by collaring specific animals to track and study them.
The Kilham Black Bear Center says generous donations helped make the apples available to the bears.
Many black bears around the country are currently going through what’s called hyperphagia. The process is their natural preparation for winter sleep of torpor, making bears constantly hungry. The animals are working to bulk up and store food within their bodies to make it through the winter.
Wildlife officials say this is also the time of year for people to be most vigilant about bears, as they search for food in places like people’s trashcans.
