Tenaya

Shortly after the Indigo Mountain land was purchased we learned of a 5 month old black bear cub in need of a home. While we constructed a safe enclosure for the cub we went to work on the licensing and paperwork necessary to arrange for the cub to come to Indigo Mountain. The Evergreen Boyscout Troop 737 volunteered their help with the containment and it all came together so we could bring Tenaya home.

Unfortunately, he came to us with trust issues and a bad attitude. Tenaya spent the first two months with us trying to sharpen his canines on our bodies. He ducked anytime we moved our arms too quickly and was generally very distrustful of all humans.

In time we were able to settle him down, make him feel loved and safe and he began to trust us enough to crawl in our laps for his bottle. By the time he was old enough to live on his own in a bear habitat he was very social to his caregivers.

Today, Tenaya can still be a mischievous bear and topping the scales at well over 300 lbs we limit our handling to protected contact through the fencing.