Meet Jerry Donuts!
We can bearly stand our excitement as we have officially welcomed our first patient at our Zoo’s newly established Black Bear Rehabilitation Center, affectionately known as Brody Bear’s Rescue and Rehab! This little bear is already on track to be released this week back into his native range.
Last month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spotted a severely underweight cub in the North Central region of Florida with his family nowhere to be found. To bring the cub to our rehabilitation center, FWC first needed a way to entice the little bear. Drawing him in with the irresistible smell of donuts, FWC’s bear management team was able to safely secure the cub. Hence, we named the bear Jerry Donuts — “Jerry” after a character from the TV series Rick and Morty and “Donuts” after his love for the sweet treat.
Jerry’s donut days are behind him now, and he’s been enjoying a more natural bear diet that includes fruits and nuts. Our animal care team is hands-off in providing this diet along with other husbandry tasks. By ensuring that Jerry doesn’t associate people with food and other care, we can help further develop his natural instincts – including a distrust of humans.
Upon Jerry Donuts’ arrival exam, our veterinary team learned that the cub is a yearling bear, meaning he’s estimated to be between 1 to 2 years old. However, Jerry only weighed 18 pounds, making him around 50 to 80 pounds under the average weight for a bear his age. He was also suffering from anemia, worms and overall poor body condition.
Jerry Donuts checks out the platforms in his new nighthouse!
The first step in Jerry’s rehabilitation journey was to take care of his medical issues and increase his weight steadily. Jerry was given a strict diet and iron pills to strengthen his body before moving on to other foods. In just the first few weeks, Jerry was up nearly 20 pounds!
Once he was medically cleared, he became the first bear cub patient to step paw into our behind-the-scenes rehabilitation center!
Like any of our patients, caring for cubs ahead of their releases is all about teaching them “how to be a bear.” Our new center was specifically designed to give bear cubs ample room to forage, climb and grow into other typical bear behaviors.
So far, Jerry Donuts has become a master at nest building with plants and pine straw in his habitat! He spends his days exploring his new space, laying on the habitat’s platforms and eating his favorite foods: puppy chow, peanuts, apples and lots and lots of seeds.
Director of Animal Programs Lauren Hinson describes the cub as calm yet cautious, likely because he had been on his own for some time. But Jerry slowly came out of his shell!
Our Zoo is incredibly proud to care for such a tough little bear, and we are thankful for the opportunity to give Florida’s black bear cubs a fresh start. As an “umbrella species,” bears play such an important role in our state’s ecosystem.
When bears forage for food like fruits and berries, they help scatter seeds throughout their natural habitats. This contributes to a diverse and balanced population of plants, which benefits other animals who share their habitats, too! Our role is to support this by helping to care for bear cubs in need through rehabilitation and release.
Stay tuned to our blog and social media channels for updates on Jerry Donuts’ journey to return to his natural range.
Contact FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) if you have found a sick, orphaned, injured or dead Florida black bear. You can also leave feedback for FWC commissioners regarding FWC’s Bear Management Plan here.