ZooMontana Workers House Male Bears Together

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By Gillette Vaira

Story Published: Jan 31, 2012 at 6:53 PM MDT

Story Updated: Feb 1, 2012 at 4:21 PM MDT

BILLINGS - Grizzly bears are known for their fierce nature, but two male bears made friends at ZooMontana on Tuesday.

Bruno, who is 660 pounds, and 330-pound Ozzy, are now officially living as roommates. Zoo staff members have been working to introduce the male bears to each other for months. Only one of the boars roamed the enclosure at a time in the past. In late January, they entered the same enclosure together.

Keepers say they are excited the pair is interacting.

"You can't give them all the things that another bear can give them like, you know, the actual interaction and the play time and all that good stuff," said Lead North American Keeper Dani Flynn. "So it's good that they have each other now."

Zoo officials say Ozzy seemed anxious when living alone, but now he is acting more at ease with Bruno.

Ozzy is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service and must be at an AZA-accredited facility. Zoo staff say they hope his relationship with Bruno will help their case to keep Ozzy at ZooMontana.

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