It wasn’t hard for Else Poulsen to find LiBEARty. An international bear expert with an extensive background in primates, Else visited the Sanctuary at the beginning of June. She sat on the ground and tried to communicate with Prince Charles, showing him that he doesn’t have to be afraid of people anymore. Like any therapist, she watched and listened, pointing out that nothing is random – everything has a meaning.
“Many things impressed me about the bear sanctuary, but what impressed me the most was the wonderful level of commitment and caring that I encountered in all of the staff that I met. One can immediately tell that LiBEARty is based on integrity and is focused exclusively on the animals’ welfare”, said Else.
Bear husbandry started in the 80’s
Else has worked with animals for more than 30 years. “In the early 1980s, after the energy industry took a financial downturn, my employer went bankrupt along with hundreds of other companies, I took a job at the Calgary Zoo as an entry-level zookeeper. I fell in love with working directly with wildlife. Zoos in the North America were transforming their cages to natural habitat homes for their animals. It was tremendously interesting and the animals needed me – particularly the bears, who seemed to continue to pace even after we built better homes for them. That’s when my work on behavior-based bear husbandry truly began, and I worked to develop recovery plans for individual bears at the zoo that needed help”, Else remembers.
Say cheese!
Now, Else collaborates with zoos, sanctuaries, rehabilitation facilities, and animal welfare organizations. Although she works directly with the staff that care for the animals, therapy for the bears remains her passion. She constantly tries to understand their behavior, which is pretty similar to human behavior. So similar that happy bears actually do what happy people do – they smile. ” Yes, bears do smile. It’s often difficult to see their smile because they have such big noses and their heads hang over their mouths. Bears smile—for bear reasons—when they are self-satisfied. I have observed bears smile as a greeting when I or other bears show up, when I give them favorite treats, when they are playing or are watching others play, or simply when they are relaxing and soaking up the sun”, explains Else.
