Calgary Zoo celebrates black bear siblings’ birthday

The Calgary Zoo is getting ready to celebrate the ninth birthday of its black bear siblings, Teslin and Orson, Monday.

The zoo took to Twitter to say the bears are going to have a “low key” birthday.

The bears may be snuggled all warm in their dens, but we still want to celebrate our favourite black bear siblings! ???? Turning 9-years-old tomorrow, ‘Teslin’ & ‘Orson’ are having pretty low-key birthdays. For now, they're enjoying their winter sleep and we'll see them in spring! pic.twitter.com/grxlBmzC5V

— Calgary Zoo (@calgaryzoo) January 15, 2023

“The bears may be snuggled all warm in their dens, but we still want to celebrate our favourite black bear siblings!” the zoo tweeted.

Teslin and Orson are currently “enjoying their winter sleep,” and they will be seen in the spring, according to the zoo.

The bears are “top-notch” tree climbers, thanks to their short and curved claws.

They are omnivores that eat plants, fruits, nuts, insects, fish, and animals.

“They aren’t avid hunters though, often preferring to stick out their tongues and use their flexible lips to eat grasses, roots, berries, and insects,” read the website.

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The zoo adds they measure about the same height as Ryan Gosling, 1.8 m 1.8 m or 5’9.”

Despite the name — black — black bears can be black, brown, cinnamon, blond, blue-gray, or white.

“The reason for the colour difference is the habitat. The different colouring adds the benefit of camouflage and helps hide from big predators,” said the zoo on Facebook.

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If you are wondering right now about the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear, the latter is bigger, weighing up to 408 kg and measuring up to nine feet.

“Grizzly bears are big. Really big. The large hump over their shoulders is pure muscle. With strength like that, it’s no surprise that they’re great hunters — but they prefer to eat berries, nuts and leaves,” read the website.

They also eat way more food than black bears — 90 lb of food per day.

Black bear lives in Canada, United States, and Mexico, whereas grizzly bear lives in Canada and the United States.