Since Shaguyik was found wandering alone as a young cub in the forests of Alaska, the 2-year-old Kodiak bear's life has been anything but ordinary. For a little over a year, the presumed orphan has been living on the ground of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center outside Anchorage, growing accustomed to the regular meals and general safety that captivity entails -- but her keepers' best intentions were no match for the call of the wild.
Just months away from her planned transfer to a zoo in Sweden, Shaguyik stunned her stewards by making a bold escape last week, the first time it's ever happened at the facility for injured and orphaned wildlife. And this was no haphazard break-out; Shaguyik, it seems, saw a rare opportunity to breach the Center's security system and took it, scaling the fence that kept her from the world beyond.
“We had our electric fence turned off for maintenance and during that time, something spooked Shaguyik,” said executive director Mike Miller. “Unfortunately, this year’s heavy snow load required us to fix our electric fence and that’s when the incident occurred.”
At 300-pounds, Shaguyik is nearly full-grown, but biologists are worried that she may be vulnerable to starvation or attacks from other bears in the wild due to her mostly coddled upbringing. The Center has enlisted the help of the Fish and Game Department to track down Shaguyik, but she's yet to turn up.
Local biologist Jessie Coltrane, while a bit pessimistic about the bear's survival back in the wild, levels a more measured tone towards the zoo-bound bear's escape.
“It’s not like an escaped murderer has gotten loose. It’s just a bear in the woods in an area where we have lots of other bears.”
SOURCE
Just months away from her planned transfer to a zoo in Sweden, Shaguyik stunned her stewards by making a bold escape last week, the first time it's ever happened at the facility for injured and orphaned wildlife. And this was no haphazard break-out; Shaguyik, it seems, saw a rare opportunity to breach the Center's security system and took it, scaling the fence that kept her from the world beyond.
“We had our electric fence turned off for maintenance and during that time, something spooked Shaguyik,” said executive director Mike Miller. “Unfortunately, this year’s heavy snow load required us to fix our electric fence and that’s when the incident occurred.”
At 300-pounds, Shaguyik is nearly full-grown, but biologists are worried that she may be vulnerable to starvation or attacks from other bears in the wild due to her mostly coddled upbringing. The Center has enlisted the help of the Fish and Game Department to track down Shaguyik, but she's yet to turn up.
Local biologist Jessie Coltrane, while a bit pessimistic about the bear's survival back in the wild, levels a more measured tone towards the zoo-bound bear's escape.
“It’s not like an escaped murderer has gotten loose. It’s just a bear in the woods in an area where we have lots of other bears.”
SOURCE
I hope our Creator keeps her close and that her wild side is given back to her.
and that is where he should be...in the wild...not trapped in cage in a zoo! All wild animals should be set free to go back to the wild. who are we to hold them captive?? wake up people
FREEDOM! She's smart enough to survive.
If the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center were actually doing the right thing by the animals, they would have been preparing her for freedom, not an unnatural life in a zoo. Good for her, for knowing that her quality of life depended upon her escape! If she does starve, it is on their heads.
My question is, even though this bear was found, and what they thought to be abandoned, why was it coddled and pampered and NOT rehabilitated and returned to the wild without too much human contact. Why would they coddle, pamper and then even agree to send this poor wild being to a zoo and out of the country anyway. This is shameful. She wanted her freedom, even if the chance was there she would die. I'm glad she escaped and pray creator will keep her safe and let her prosper. No animal should be kept captive if there is ANY hope it can be rehabilitated with little contact as possible with humans.
Great Kodiak be free, safe, and live as a bear should live!
Her natural instinct is to roam free. She will and should make it fine. Why do we think we know it all ???
I bet she will return eventually on her own
"born to be wild" not captive for the pleasure of entertainment.