Tule and Ishŭng are taking their relationship to a new level — proximity wise.
As of early last month, the two are now sharing habitat space without any barriers following a slow introduction process in which the bears got to “set the pace.”
According to Sequoia Park Zoo animal curator Amanda Auston, things are going well after a minor adjustment period.
“For the first 10 days or so after the physical introduction, Ishŭng mostly ignored Tule,” she says in an email to the Journal. “Lately though, they have begun to play and wrestle together! Ishŭng is actually initiating play many times.”
The new arrangements began around the one-year anniversary of Ishŭng’s arrival at the Sequoia Park Zoo in March of 2025 after being removed from a Butte County wildlife sanctuary along with several other animals by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“We started with them in separate spaces with lots of visual barriers, so they could choose to be visible to each other or not,” Auston says. “Once both bears were comfortable being within sight of the other, we brought them closer and gradually removed barriers based on their comfort. We also provided positive reinforcement in the form of favorite food items when bears were near each other. Over time, they became accustomed to each other’s presence and remained calm when just a few feet away from each other.”
She notes the two bears, both 4 years old, started out in different places on the getting-to-know-you side at first.
“Tule grew up with other bears and was very interested in Ishŭng,” Auston says. “Ishŭng was not housed with other bears before she came to us, so she needed more time to get to know Tule and be comfortable with him near her space.”
Tule, along with the late Noni, were the first to live in the zoo’s bear and coyote habitat after coming to the zoo in 2023 as yearlings. The two were rehabilitated together at the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Center after separately being found as orphaned cubs in 2022 and deemed by CDFW officials to be unsuitable for release.
In Tule’s case, it was because he will never be able to grow back his full coat — an impediment to survival in the wild — due to what Auston previously described as “residual scar tissue from the severe skin infection he suffered as a cub.” Noni, meanwhile, never showed an appropriate fear of humans.
Likewise, Ishŭng has an affinity for people.
Auston says that while caretakers actually saw “positive signs between the two last fall, the timing was less than ideal due to ‘hyperphagia’ — the seasonal increase in appetite bears naturally experience in fall.”
“During this time, they are very hungry, which could lead to more competition over food and potential aggression,” she explains. “After hyperphagia, bears go into “torpor” — a time of very reduced activity, decreased appetite, and rest for the winter to conserve energy.”
So, Auston says, the decision was to hold off until those periods had passed.
“We decided to wait to do the introduction at a time when they were awake enough to interact, but not so hungry that they may feel competitive over food,” she says. “Spring turned out to be the ‘goldilocks’ time for an introduction — just right!”
The last year has been big one for Ishŭng in other ways as well.
After arriving at the zoo weighing around 500 pounds — or twice what a bear of that size should — Ishŭng is now down to around 340 pounds with a better diet and playtime in a habitat far removed from the cage she once knew.
“Her stamina and mobility have greatly improved, and she can now run for a long time,” Auston says.” Keepers have trained her to ‘chase’ and follow them along the fence line as a fun way to encourage exercise.
“At first, she could only run for a couple minutes, but now the keepers tire out before she does,” the animal curator continues. “Plus — she is now getting lots of great exercise playing with Tule. She has not tried to climb a tree yet, and she may not, but she has several platforms she can climb up on. She also hasn’t fully gone swimming in the pond yet, but she likes to wade and splash.”
But Ishŭng and Tule are not, of course, the only bears in the zoo.
Kunabulilh — aka “Nabu” — is the newest yearling on the block, having arrived in the summer after being found abandoned as a cub and in dire condition in the Coloma area of El Dorado County in late 2024.
Originally rehabilitated with the aim of release, Kunabulilh — a name bestowed by councilmembers of the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria that translates to “he bites” in the Wiyot language Soulatluk — was also deemed un-releasable due to a coat issue.
But that also meant the young male was very shy and scared around people because he was not habituated to them during the recovery process. That’s now changing.
“Kunabulilh is doing very well,” Auston says. “His comfort around humans has dramatically improved, and he is choosing to spend most of his time outside, in view of people, interacting with toys or the other bears through the fence. Nabu loves fruit and nuts. He is a silly boy and loves to shake firehose toys, and he has learned the joys of playing in a bubble bath — he is a ferocious bubble attacker.”
And, Auston says, the front yard habitat that Tule and Ishŭng are now sharing has a temporary fence up that “allows Nabu and the ‘big bears’ to see each other but not physically interact in the same space.”
“Tule and Nabu do some bluff charging at each other, which is normal, but they also play with enrichment next to each other at the fence line,” she says. “As Kunabulilh gets older and becomes comfortable, we expect that we will be able to introduce the bears and have all three share the habitat.”
Kimberly Wear (she/her) is the assistant editor at the Journal. Reach her at 442-1400 or kim@northcoastjournal.com.
This article appears in Summer of Fun 2026.
