Bears Emerge from Torpor ‘Cocoon’ Just in Time for World Bear Day
March 25, 2021
Like butterflies undergoing metamorphosis, our bear residents retreated to their dens during the cold season and have since emerged…well, just as stinky and silly as ever!
They made their entrance back into the “real world” just in time for World Bear Day, which was celebrated this past Tuesday, March 23. There was special enrichment for all nine of our furry, burly residents.
Bam Bam the grizzly spent the day splashing in his pool. Russian Brown Bear, Huggy, partied by destroying as many trees in his habitat as possible, much to the dismay of his unbiological sisters, black bears Holli and Lolli, who just wanted to climb. Young black bears, Xena and Koda G, also clambered up in the tree tops to look over the rolling Ozark hills and see what they missed during their torpor. Harley and Thunder rolled and wrestled in the grass, while Michael lazed around looking unBEARably cute.
Bears, no matter their age, are the toddlers of the Refuge. They require constant, ever-changing entertainment lest they become destructive and mischievous. Due to their natural intelligence and curiosity, their enrichment program rotates more than that of any other animal resident. They certainly keep our team creative and engaged in coming up with new things for our bear residents to play with!
Of all the bears who call the Refuge home, Huggy might be the most difficult to entertain. His sheer size and personality make it easy for him to reduce enrichment items to nothing in a matter of seconds. This is why we’re excited for his opportunity to reside in one of our natural bear habitats, built in October 2018. This large habitat incorporated the trees and plants already residing on our land in order to encourage natural bear behaviors. While we still have to provide plenty of entertainment for this bodacious brown bear, his surroundings do a fantastic job of keeping him occupied.
Visits to many of our bear residents are limited for the time being due to the pandemic. However, beloved grizzly, Bam Bam remains one of the first animals you encounter as you exit the gift shop to take your tour. If you’re unsure why he’s so popular, we encourage you to visit and find out; it won’t take long for it to become obvious!
Booking ahead is the only way to guarantee a spot on our tours, and you can do so at tcwr.org/visit. Tours leave in the Spring and Summer every hour on the hour from 9 AM – 4 PM. We ask that you arrive at least 25 minutes before your scheduled tour time and continue wearing a mask (even if you are vaccinated) until further notice. You will be with a tour guide for the entirety of your visit; after strolling through the Discovery area accompanied by the guide, you will spend the rest of the tour on our open-air tram.
Our popular lodging accommodations, including the Bam Bam Bungalow Glamping Tent, are also open for bookings. Click here for pricing, pictures, and to reserve.
This week, a few of our big cats may be getting flashbacks of their ancestral home as an arctic front has lingered over much of the central United States.Temperatures, well below what Alaska is currently experiencing, have stalled in our area, bringing activity at the Refuge to a screeching halt. Although our African cats don’t like the cooler weather, many of our tigers can be found romping and playing, despite the freezing cold. Their thick winter coats and the option to snuggle up in a den that is much warmer than the outside air keeps them from feeling the chill.
Subzero temperatures with additional wind chills have our team walking a thin line; we must care for our animals, make sure they have food, warm bedding, and plenty of water, but with the steep hills and freezing temperatures it isn’t safe for our team to spend excessive time outdoors. The temperature and slick grounds have also given the additional hurdle that many of our vehicles will not start or cannot make it up the slippery slopes. So, we have had to get creative.
We also supply heating to our African and senior animals. Like many other people affected by the extreme weather, we are quickly depleting our gas supply and the electric bill will be much higher this month. All of this is on top of the fact that we have had to close and have lost lodging reservations due to the weather.
These past few years, Turpentine Creek has been lucky enough to have mild winters with only some scattered snowfall and winter weather. This year, however, has been a little more eventful. We’ve had multiple snow days with inches of snow accumulating on the ground. These snowy play days are a lot of fun for the big cats and our team members. Snowmen, snowball fights, and snow piles are fun to romp in and rarely cause any issue. This week is a bit different. Our forecast was filled with freezing rain, sleet, slushy snow, and below freezing temperatures. This makes for a very cold, slick, work and living environment. Due to this, we have decided to suspend tours until at least Monday, February 15, 2021.
Luckily, our big cats have very few issues with the cold temperatures. Senior animals and African animals all have heated dens to snuggle up in. The rest of our animals have warm bedding and dens that typically are 20 or more degrees warmer than the outside air. Their thick fur coats were made for cold temperatures and their dinners are served to them on a ‘silver’ platter so they don’t have to go out into the cold to hunt for food. They get fresh water multiple times a day so they also don’t have to worry about frozen over water dishes.
Join us this weekend for our annual online Valentine’s auction! Our Be My Meow-lentine auction gives you the opportunity to give a unique gift that has the added benefit of helping support the animals that call Turpentine Creek home!
This week has brought weather that’s been perfect for all of our feline residents. African big cats like lions and servals typically prefer warm but not hot temperatures while tigers fair well on chilly, even damp days. It’s been cloudy and a bit dreary at TCWR, but the temperatures have settled in the sweet spot for lions to sing, servals to pounce from log-to-log in their habitat, and tigers to bat at enrichment and stalk everything in sight. We were even treated to a light dusting of snow that was just enough for cold-weather-loving cats to be excited and warm-preferring ones to be tolerant and even a little curious.
We have taken precautions to keep our team members, guests, and of course, our animal residents safe during the pandemic. Aside from masking and cleaning procedures, we have also capped tours to limit the number of people in the Refuge at one time. Given that tours are nearly empty during the week this time of year and sparse on the weekends, social distancing is even easier for you and your family by booking a wintertime day trip or overnight stay.
For an even more special experience, book an overnight or weekend getaway to our little piece of Africa in the Ozarks! Watch our animal residents play and possibly frolic in some snow before returning to the warmth and comfort of your family-friendly suite. If you are 18 or older and interested in a trip for two, you can book one of our Zulu Lodges, which gives you access to our comfortable hot tub that is guaranteed to get rid of the chill while you chill. Relaxing in the Ozark Mountains as lions carol away sets the tone for the reset you need. You can explore pricing and book at 
All four cubs were scheduled to come to Turpentine Creek, but appeals continually delayed their rescue. Sadly, for Rory and Rajah, the court ruling came too late. Reportedly, due to storm damage, they escaped their enclosures and were killed.
