Chillin" & edits

This photo was taken yesterday at the Wildlife Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO.  The sanctuary has over 400 animals, mainly large carnivores.  Lots of bears, lions and tigers.  This particular brown bear was rescued from a roadside zoo in Wisconsin along with 4 other Syrian brown bears..  They now live together in a large enclosure with a den and a large water feature.  I watched this bear enjoy the water for about 15 minutes.

This is not like a zoo, in that you cannot view the animals at eye level.  All animals are viewed from an overhead walkway.  I was told that this makes the animal unaware or at least uncaring about your presence as the sky is not "Territory"  I was skeptical about this at first but it is absolutely true.  None of the animals exhibited zoo type behavior of pacing or staring.  They seemed very relaxed.

Not a super place for photos as you are so high above the animals but definitely worth a visit.

Technical: D 800 with 300 mm f4. ISO 160, 1/800 sec f7.1, handheld.  

Note:  I have edited the post to show this animal as a Syrian brown bear, rather than a Grizzly.  I talked to one of the volunteers at the center, told her where I took the picture and she identified the bear as one of two Grizzlys, Tiny or Natasha.  Now that I have had time to review the Sanctuary's extensive Tour Guide magazine and map, I realize that this could not possibly be Tiny or Natasha but has to be a Syrian Brown Bear.  Both enclosures are similar in that they have a large water feature but they are located about a quarter mile apart and are clearly designated on the Sanctuary's map.  So this particular bear is one of 5 in this enclosure, all of which were rescued from the same facility in Wisconsin.  I have also posted a pic below of the bear more out of the water showing the coloring and very little hump.  I am not an expert on bears :)