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2 troublesome grizzly cubs find new home in St. Louis

Visitors to the St. Louis Zoo will be able to watch two grizzly bear cubs from Montana starting Friday.

The male, Huckleberry and female, Finley, are both 2 1/2 years old. They and their mother were found disturbing residences and livestock, posing a risk to public safety. Montana wildlife officials killed the mother and sent the cubs to St. Louis Zoo, because zoo officials already had plans to revamp the grizzly bear exhibit.

Grizzly bears have been classified as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced at the end of July that theYellowstone population improved enough to be taken off the federal protection list.

"They're a top predator," said Steve Bircher, curator for mammals and carnivores at the Zoo. "They help maintain a healthy environment in the wild, maintaining prey species. They're also seed dispersers, so they're an important part of the environment." 

The cubs are housed at the new Centene Grizzly Ridge exhibit, which cost $11.1 million. The space includes a pond, a waterfall and grassy areas that were designed to be similar to the wild. 

Members of the Zoo got the chance to attend a preview of two grizzly bear cubs at the St. Louis Zoo.
Credit David Kovaluk | St. Louis Public Radio
Members of the Zoo got the chance to attend a preview of two grizzly bear cubs at the St. Louis Zoo.

Researchers at the zoo are monitoring the bears' hormone levels and collecting fecal samples to study stress levels and check on how the cubs are adjusting to their new surroundings. Bircher said it's clear that the bears are enjoying their new home. 

"We started seeing play behaviors, play wrestling. They're using all aspects of their habitat. They're very playful, so they're still like kids," Bircher said. 

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Two grizzly bear cubs arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo this summer.
Two grizzly bear cubs arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo in the summer of 2017. /
Two grizzly bear cubs arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo this summer.

Eli Chen is the science and environment reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. She comes to St. Louis after covering the eroding Delaware coast, bat-friendly wind turbine technology, mouse love songs and various science stories for Delaware Public Media/WDDE-FM. Before that, she corralled robots and citizen scientists for the World Science Festival in New York City and spent a brief stint booking guests for Science Friday’s live events in 2013. Eli grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where a mixture of teen angst, a love for Ray Bradbury novels and the growing awareness about climate change propelled her to become the science storyteller she is today. When not working, Eli enjoys a solid bike ride, collects classic disco, watches standup comedy and is often found cuddling other people’s dogs. She has a bachelor’s in environmental sustainability and creative writing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has a master’s degree in journalism, with a focus on science reporting, from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.