Tag Archives: Bearizona

How could we forget Bearizona?

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Awesome walk thru lights at night low resWILLIAMS — How could we have forgotten the annual Bearizona Backwoods Bash? Some how this slipped our minds in our article on weekend events.

Bearizona is hosting a Backwoods Bash on July 25, from 12:00p.m – 8:00p.m. This event will be held in the Fort Bearizona walk-thru area of the park and is open to the public.

Live country music throughout the day will set the mood for the event. Kids can jump ‘til their hearts content, get a balloon animal, get some Bearizona ink among other things in the Kid Zone. Barbecue food will be available for purchase as well as local drink selections from Grand Canyon Winery, Historic Brewing Company & all your domestic favorites as well.

Bearizona is excited to welcome the Phoenix Herpetological Society who will be at the event from 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. with an alligator and an 18’ snake that attendees, who are adventurous enough, can get up-close, touch and get their picture taken with them. There will also be Bearizona’s walk thru animals on exhibit for all to see, as well as program animal encounters throughout the day.

Advance discount tickets for the Bearizona Backwoods Bash can be purchased by going to http://www.eventbrite.com and typing in Bearizona Backwoods Bash. $9 ages (4-12) and $20 (13 & Up). Tickets at the event will cost $11 ages (4-12) and $22 (13 & Up). Tickets will get you into both the drive-thru and walk-thru areas of the park, however the drive-thru closes at 7p.m. Bearizona pass holders get into the event for free.

Animals at Bearizona are prepping for their own unique Independence celebrations

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Bearizona photo


WILLIAMS — Bearizona bear cubs spent the day yesterday prepping for some fun Independence Day enrichment, bear cub paintings! The bear cubs love to have fun, and keepers introduced a new enrichment activity to four incredibly eager cubs.

The bear cubs got to paw in red white and blue paint and tromp all over canvas to create their own unique artwork.

The artwork will be sold in the gift shop over the weekend with all proceeds going to C.O.P.S. (Concerns of Police Survivors, Bearizona’s 2015 charity). The cubs will be doing more artwork on the 4th of July at 9:40 a.m. for any visitors that want to witness this fun filled enrichment in person.

Other animals getting special Independence day enrichment or treats include:

Kindergarten Bears: 10:00 a.m.
Bobcat: 12:50 p.m.
Otters: 2:30 p.m.

Bearizona Photo

Bearizona Photo

Happy 5th birthday Bearizona

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Photos by Bearizona.

Photos by Bearizona.

WILLIAMS — With all that transpired over the weekend, we now have time to congratulate Bearizona on the occasion of their 5th anniversary. Bearizona was established on May 22, 2010 and has since grown to one of the most popular attractions to Williams.

Bearizona opened May 22, 2010 and has already grown to be a top tourist destination in Arizona. It was recently voted one of the top 10 drive through wildlife parks in the entire country by USA Today, and was last year’s recipient of the Governor’s Tourism Champion of the Year award. They have been featured on national and local television programs. They seem to be most popular in the spring when the bear cubs are born.

In their effort to educate people about wild life, they had started a summer day camp for youth ages 6 to 15. This year the day camp will begin June 29 and run through July 3. Tickets are apparently still available. They host Home School Visitation days. They held one on April 3 and May 1. They will host two more this year on September 4 and October 2.
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As usual, the staff provided the animals with special treats to mark the occasion. These snacks look scrumptious and sweet and might lead the visitor to believe that they can provide similar sweets to the animals. The celebratory snacks, however, are carefully prepared by the staff for the animals and their specific dietary needs. Visitors should not attempt to feed the animals.

Work on Route 66 to 64 begins

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640-rt66work-15-04-21-18WILLIAMS — Paving work has begun on the Route 66 to Route 64 exchange area near Bearizona Wildlife Park. Caution is advised while traveling through a construction zone and you can expect delays.

Bearizona Launches Summer Day Camp Program for Youth age 6 to 15

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bear-squirrelWILLIAMS — Bearizona Wildlife Park is excited to offer it’s first ever summer day camp program. Camps will begin June 29 and finish July 3.

Participants are provided opportunities to learn about the North American Model of Conservation, recycling in nature, amazing animal adaptations and preserving wildlife for the future. Each day features hands-on animal encounters and fully integrates science, physical activity, and creative arts.

Parents can register their campers at www.bearizona.com and follow the link at the bottom of the website. Each week has a different theme and each day has its own focus.

DEAL ALERT: Bearizona is currently running a Groupon for $100 off the cost of admission for a one week summer day camp. The Groupon is set to expire May 1st.

About Us:.Bearizona Wildlife Park’s mission is to promote conservation through memorable and educational encounters with North American wildlife in a natural environment.

Gosar submits bill for cull hunt of bison at Grand Canyon

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(Because of the deadline for this article, the office of Representative Gosar could not be reached for comment)

White Bison at Bearizona Wildlife Park.

White Bison at Bearizona Wildlife Park.

WASHINGTON — In 1906, Charles “Buffalo” Jones brought bison to northern Arizona in an unsuccessful attempt to breed them with cattle. The descendants of these bison have been managed since 1950 by the state of Arizona in the House Rock Wildlife Area (HRWA) on the Kaibab National Forest, through an inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In 1990 the 1990 the bison started moving to the top of the Kaibab Plateau and into the Grand Canyon National Park.

The Grand Canyon National Park began a request for input on a Bison Management Plan that ended in June of 2014. The effort was an attempt to balance their mission to secure natural vegetation, archeological sites and water resources while maintaining the bison as wildlife.

On March 18, Paul Gosar [R-AZ-4] submitted H.R. 1443 (S. 782 in the Senate by McCain) to permit a cull hunt for Bison at the Grand Canyon National Park.

The bill calls for the Secretary of the Interior to publish a management plan for Bison no later than 180 days after H.R. 1443 is enacted. The plan would be to reduce, through humane lethal culling by skilled public volunteers and other non-lethal means the population of Bison in the park.

Skilled public volunteers are defines as those with a valid hunting license issued by the State of Arizona and other qualifications the Secretary may require after consulting with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Kirby Shedlowski, Acting Public Affairs Officer at Grand Canyon National Park, said, “In order have allowed cull, there’s usually a very large management planning process.”

She said, “There has never been a cull hunt for bison at the Grand Canyon. There has been a cull on the forest. On the Kaibab Forest on the north side.”

Kirby said she was not sure of cull hunts for Bison in other parks, such as Yellowstone. “There are different culling hunts in different parks for different animals. Rocky Mountain did it for elk. Rock Creek Park has done it for white-tail deer. Getteysburg has done it for white-tail deer. But, as far as Bison go—I’m not sure. But Grand Canyon National Park has never had a cull for Bison.”

The three new additions at Bearizona now on display

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Laura Leinaar, Animal Care specialists, give kids a close-up look at the cubs.

Laura Leinaar, Animal Care specialists, gives guests a close-up look at the cubs.

WILLIAMS — Last Friday we got to visit Bearizona Wildlife Park (Facebook) in Williams Arizona to see the newest addition. Three bear cubs born around 7 weeks ago in January. The cubs are Klondike, Blue and Captain.

Laura Leinarr, Animal Care specialist at Bearizona, explained that they are separated from their mothers because male bears will attempt to kill the cubs in an attempt to make the mothers go into heat.

In the wild, mother bears can hide their cubs, but this is not an option at Bearizona. They are also very protective of their cubs in the wild. That is why you should use extreme caution if you encounter a cub or bear in the wild. Immediately begin to slowly back up the way you came until you are well clear.
Bearizona-15-03-20-3Laura explained that they are currently being kept in the enclosure in the Mine Shaft so they can remain under constant observation to ensure their best chance of survival. While they are under constant observation by gleeful children, we think she meant professional observation.

The bear cubs will remain in the enclosure until about May. They will then be transferred to an enclosure near the new gift shop that is currently being constructed. If that is not finished, they will be located at the normal cub enclosure at the walk-through area.
Bearizona-15-03-20-4Like any newborns, the cubs are still developing eyesight and learning to walk. Yet they have a highly developed sense of smell that they rely on to identify their mothers. In this case, they know Laura’s smell and get excited hoping that it is feeding time. If you get a chance to see the cubs around feeding time, Laura might even give you a close-up look.

Bearizona is a drive-through wildlife park and the animals ARE considered wild. Laura explained that it is extremely important to keep windows rolled up and doors locked while in the drive-through section. Bears are intelligent and if they smell something interesting in your vehicle, they can actually operate your door latch. That includes the latch to the back door in many SUVs.

If you do not enjoy the option of shooting pictures through window glass, you can opt to take the windowless bus. You can catch the bus at the entrance to the walk-through area.
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Bison Lake in Bearizona full

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Buff-Lake15-03-18-5white-buffalo-01WILLIAMS — Bison Lake at the Bearizona Wildlife Park seems to have filled up due to snow melt.

Actually it is not really a lake. The plain area where the Bison usually love to lay in the snow has filled with water creating a marsh which is difficult, at best, to drive through.

Not to worry, however. The Bison are still hanging around the road for viewing.

Next week visitors will be treated to viewing the newest residents to the park. Three bear cubs were born this spring and will be placed into the walk-through area.
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Three new bear cubs join Bearizona Wildlife Park

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Bearizona Photo

Bearizona Photo

WILLIAMS — Bearizona Wildlife Park is excited to announce the arrival of three un”bear”ably cute North American bear cubs, which were born in early January at the Williams, Arizona Wildlife Park. The bear cubs will be viewable in a special care area of the park until May, when they will then be big enough to go out into their own enclosure within the walk through portion of the park.

Black Bears commonly have two to four cubs per litter, and can nurse up to six cubs. Despite high birthrates, only four out of ten cubs will reach their first year of life. The sixty percent of cub mortality is a result of starvation and depredation by male bears are other large carnivores.

Arizona has a stable wild population of black bear in the wild, however the elusive animals are rarely seen. Visitors to Bearizona Wildlife Park are able to get a close encounter with captive black bears, while learning about their habits and history.

“The connections people make between our animal residents and the habitats in which they reside are key to understanding and conserving wildlife,” explains COO and Curator Vanessa Stoffel. “We have a unique opportunity to educate the public about what it means to live with and recreate among black bears, and these little ambassador cubs are where it all begins.”

Bearizona is a wildlife park in which guests experience a scenic three-mile drive in their own vehicle or coach witnessing North American animals in their natural environment.

Visitors can then leisurely stroll through the forest along winding walkways to get an up-close look at the antics of baby and smaller animals in Fort Bearizona. Guests are encouraged to catch their complimentary Birds of Prey free flight show where they will come face to face with hawks, owls and other raptors.

Bearizona’s mission is to promote conservation through memorable and educational encounters with North American wildlife in a natural environment.

Bearizona holds annual holiday special

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800-141129-137WILLIAMS – Visitors to Bearizona on Saturday had a special treat. Not only did they have the opportunity to see the animals and see them get their Christmas meal, there was a special visit from Santa and Mrs. C.

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Bearzona recently broke ground on a new gift shop that will open in May just in time for the sixth anniversary of the park. The new gift shop will be located in the area where the raptor show used to take place.

New gift shop will be located behind where gift shop is now.

New gift shop will be located behind where gift shop is now.

The park keeps improving and recently completed a mountain setting for the Arctic wolves.
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More pictures on our Facebook page.