Suzy and Johnny Go Back to the Wild!

On the morning of Saturday July 12th the IFAW and Northern Light Wildlife Society met with local conservation officers before driving approx. 2.5 hours to the release location.  Once on site the trap that was carrying Suzy and Johnny was carefully positioned.  The enclosure door was slowly opened and we all watched excitedly from the safety of our vehicles and – nothing.  After about two minutes of waiting Suzy stepped onto the ground quickly followed by Johnny.  The bears took a couple of steps towards the parked vehicles but quickly changed their minds - abruptly turning around and heading down the trail about 40 feet where they stopped and ate. 

After about five minutes Suzy made her way down the slope towards the forest and the river.  Without hesitation Suzy walked into the forest whereas Johnny frequently stopped to eat.  As the rain started to come down, and with the bears in the forest and out of sight, we decided it was time to go.  As we were about to leave, one of the conservation officers called out that Suzy was walking up the far end of the trail towards us.  As soon as Suzy heard us and realized that she was heading towards people she immediately turned around and ran away.  The last we saw of her she was running away from us and into the forest.