The Cape May County Zoo’s new bear, Billie Jean, is making herself at home in South Jersey.
The Andean bear — a vulnerable species native to South America — came here from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. as part of a species survival program to ensure genetic diversity in breeding captive animals.
Since she’s sure to become a hit with the zoo’s 65,000
annual visitors, we asked zoo vet Dr. Alex Ernst to give us the lowdown on Billie Jean.
Here are the five things he said you need to know about her:
How did Billie Jean get to Cape May?
In the back of a van.
Seriously.
Ernst hopped in the zoo’s van and headed to D.C. last month to bring her to her new home. The road trip had been about a year in the making.
Eager to fill a vacant habitat, the Cape May Zoo had entered a program to relocate an Andean bear here and jumped at the chance to take in Billie Jean once the National Zoo offered.
“So I went down in the van with a, I guess you could say, very large, metal dog crate in it,” Ernst said.
Billie Jean had been trained to enter a cage, so she did so willingly but was none too happy when the door closed behind her, he said. She didn’t sleep during the drive, preferring to let Ernst know how she truly felt.
“She was beating on the door for most of the drive,” Ernst said. “I had a slightly agitated bear in the back.”
How old is Billie Jean and how old will she get?
Though she’s 17, Billie Jean’s angsty-teen phase is mostly behind her. She’s already raised six cubs, and is past her reproductive stage, Ernst explained, and will likely live into her early 20s.
“By looking her, you wouldn’t pin as her as being an older bear,” Ernst said. “But, animals, like humans getting older, have some health concerns,. But, she’s spry and active.”
She’d been living with a breeding pair of Andean bears that are part of her lineage, Ernst said. Moving her to South Jersey means that pair will now have more room to start and grow their family.
“So, that’s the role she gets to play in helping the species,” he said.
What will you see Billie Jean doing at the zoo?
Billie Jean’s only been at the zoo for a few weeks and hasn’t really established a routine yet, Ernst said.
Billie Jean spends a lot of time climbing and exploring her habitat, and visitors hoping for a glimpse of the bear should probably look up.
“She has various decks of different heights to climb up,” Ernst said. “And she has one particular place she likes to sit and look out over the crowd.”
Zookeepers keep Billie Jean active through enrichment, so you may see her playing with a ball or pawing at some large plastic toys.
“And we do sense enrichment, with different smells — inside and outside her habitat — to keep her active,” the doctor said.
Billie Jean isn’t particularly vocal, at least not yet, Ernst said, so visitors aren’t likely to hear her growling or grunting.
What’s her enclosure like?
Billie Jean has the place to herself. She’s in a 6,600-square-foot enclosure in the zoo’s South America section.
Ernst said she’s starting to show interest in some of her neighbors, and the capybaras nearby have certainly taken notice of her.
The doctor said the capybaras — large rodents also native to South America — know she’s there and she can likely see them from her favorite perch.
“And she can certainly hear them,” he said. “It’s a little predator-prey thing.”
When is the best time to visit Billie Jean?
She’s a wild animal, so besides her regular feedings, Billie Jean doesn’t have much of a daily to-do list.
Ernst encourages visitors to make their visits in the morning, as the zoo is opening.
The animals are just starting their day and the weather, particularly in the summer, is cooler so they are a little more active.
“Billie Jean or not,” Ernst said. “I always say come in the morning.”
Source: Courier Post
