Montreal black bear leaves hibernation at Ecomuseum

Genie, the Ecomusuem zoo’s black bear, is out of hibernation.

She went outside Friday – her first official outing after sleeping in her den during the winter in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

Patricia Presseau is the animal care director at the Ecomusuem zoo, and she said that Genie left her enclosure a few days earlier, which gave them time to prepare for her arrival outside.

“This morning, when we opened the door, she went straight out, and she was happy to get some food and walk around. And then for the next couple of weeks, she’ll be groggy, like most humans, when you wake up.”

Presseau explained that Genie will need to get back in shape, but will only be active for a few hours a day.

“She didn’t move much for the last month. She will move but will only be active a couple hours a day. She will still sleep a lot for the next weeks.”

The Ecomuseum is the only outdoor zoo in Montreal.

Each living space replicates the animal’s natural environment to ensure their comfort and well-being.

Executive Director David Rodrigue says Genie has been at their zoo since 2014 and has an outdoor, and indoor living space.

He said they try to keep everything as natural as possible.

“The indoor is where she came out of this morning. She’ll have an artificial cave in there and the indoor space is where they spend the winter and where they also go every night during their active period,” explained Rodrigue. “The outdoors part is one of the things that we do which explains the layout of the living space. We give the animals a chance to not be in view if they don’t want to be. So, if they don’t want to be seen by people or if they don’t want to see people, they can do that.”

Rodrigue emphasized that they try to offer the best possible care for all the animals at the Ecomuseum because it may offer them a longer life span.

“In the wild, black bears average around 15 years old. Some of the bears that were in our care died at 26 and 27. Obviously, we give them the best possible care. Everything is perfect for them which is important for us, and it shows on their lifespan.”