Two years ago the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center whose home is in Portage Alaska inherited two abandoned brown bear cubs by the name of Sadie and Haines. Sadie was found near a landfill in Kotzebue Alaska while Haines was found abandoned and roaming among houses and porches in Haines, Alaska. A year later they were joined by a spritely little bear named Kenai whose mother was shot by a hiker in “self-defense”. Since I was an annual passholder of this wonderful organization I spent quite a bit of time watching them grow up and into three beautiful sub-adults.

When April of this year rolled around they were shipped off to their new home at the Minnesota Zoo. Obviously for someone like me who has a love of wildlife their presence and antics are greatly missed. The few times I have been to the AWCC since then I have asked how they were doing in their new home, only to be told they are “adapting”. But alas for me I have found the AWCC quite simply isn’t the same without them.

With the loss of Sadie, Kenai and Haines I decided to do a bit of searching to obtain more information about their new home. Call it curiosity. I will be the first to admit I’m really not a fan of zoos. I find the animals spaces tend to be very confinding and the quality of life they tend to have to be less than superior. However that is another rant for another time. But during my research imagine my surprise to find these animals new home being listed and being sold as “Russia’s Grizzly Coast Animals” using bears of the Kamchatka Peninsula as a basis for their new display.

Last I looked Alaska was not Russia. Granted Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867 but my question remains why sell these animals as being from somewhere they are not? And while the answer is no double lost in the mire and muck of politics and advertising of which I am not a fan, I shall hope that they grow up healthy and strong.

Because they are certainly missed by me.