News

You can visit three new grizzly bears at the Central Park Zoo now

The orphaned and rescued bears have been at the Bronx Zoo since 2013.

Anna Rahmanan
Written by
Anna Rahmanan
Senior National News Editor
Grizzly bear at the Central Park Zoo
Photograph: Julie Larsen Maher
Advertising

Grizzly bears Treena, and sisters Amber and Luna have just been moved from the Bronx Zoo to the Central Park Zoo to the delight of all Manhattanites.

The three animals were all orphaned in Montana until wildlife officials rescued them and brought them to the Bronx Zoo back in 2013. Amber and Luna's mother was illegally shot while Treena's was euthanized by officials after repeatedly entering residential areas looking for food. As the cubs were too young to survive on their own, they could not be released and were instead taken to New York.

Grizzly bears at the Central Park Zoo
Photograph: Julie Larsen Maher

"The bears have settled in and are wonderful additions to the Central Park Zoo," said Craig Piper, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society City Zoos, in an official statement about the move. "As ambassadors for their wild cousins, their story will help people understand specific ways safely coexist with wildlife and reduce human-bear conflict, whether with grizzly bears in the West or black bears in our own back yard."

The trio joins six other bears at New York zoos, three in Central Park and another three in the Bronx. "While all the bears that came [to the system] did so under different circumstances, they share a common story of situations that resulted from a series of negative interactions with people," reads an official press release. 

Grizzly bears at the Central Park Zoo
Photograph: Julie Larsen Maher

According to the staff, the bears have adapted to their new surroundings pretty quickly and can already be seen digging in the dirt, wading in the stream and climbing on the rocks within the area they now call home.

Grizzly bears at the Central Park Zoo
Photograph: Julie Larsen Maher

Clearly, walking around the zoo has now officially become one of the best things to do in Central Park.

Popular on Time Out

    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising