Contact Us:

info@bearcaregroup.org
The Bear Care Group
P.O. Box 4394
Troy, MI 48099

Mission Statement
The Bear Care Group creates and enhances communication, cooperation and education among international bear care professionals by organizing bear care programs, publications and resources focused on advancing and sharing information on bear behavior, husbandry, enrichment, training, veterinary care and other topics to further global bear welfare and conservation efforts.

Board of Directors


President: Else .B. Poulsen

Else Poulsen began her career in animal behavior in the early 1980s working as a field biologist in Alberta’s oil patch. When the bottom dropped out of the energy industry she became an entry level zookeeper at the Calgary Zoo working with a wide variety of animal species, from toads to tigers. Over time she developed a keen interest in large carnivore behavior and specialized in captive bear behaviour, husbandry, and management. She was led to research captive bear aberrant behaviors, publish her findings, and advocate for change. After 18 years at the Calgary Zoo she left to work at the Detroit Zoo, and then several bear specialist facilities in Canada. As the founding consultant for Behavioral & Environmental Solutions she provides expert assistance and advice about modernizing bear husbandry methods, environmental enrichment programming, and enclosure design issues to zoos, sanctuaries, rehabilitation facilities, and animal welfare groups around the world. Poulsen has more than 40 publications to her name including peer reviewed journals, technical journals, articles for the media, and a bit part in the textbook Stereotypic Animal Behavior – Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare, 2nd Edition. Her first bear behavior book titled Smiling Bears – A Zookeeper Explores the Behavior and Emotional Life of Bears was released in May 2009. She is currently working on her second bear book. Poulsen is the president of the founding Board of Directors for the Bear Care Group.

Vice President: Gail Hedberg, RVT

Secretary/Treasurer: Judy Willard

Mindy Babitz is a senior animal keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park where she has worked since 1998 with a wide variety of animals including sloth bears, Andean bears, Kodiak bears, giant pandas, primates, big cats, hoof stock, and several small carnivore species.  Since 2006, Mindy has been primarily responsible for a variety of Asian carnivores and is also on the zoo’s carnivore hand-rearing team.  She is currently the National Zoo’s institutional representative to the Sloth Bear SSP. 
In addition to caring for the sloth bears at the zoo’s Asia Trail exhibit, Mindy is also involved in ongoing research investigating stereotypic behaviors in these bears with a focus on how animal managers can enhance the lives of and improve welfare for bears in captivity.  In 2006 Mindy was part of a National Zoo team that conducted an enrichment and training workshop at the Shanghai Zoo in China, attended by zoo & wildlife park staff from all over China.  She orchestrated an “extreme makeover” of Shanghai Zoo’s sun bear exhibit and helped them start an enrichment program for their bears.  In 2011 Mindy planned the National Zoo’s first Bear Awareness Weekend, which she hopes will become an annual event.  Mindy has a background in animal behavior and cognition, earning her BA from the University of Virginia and PhD in Psychology from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Director: Heather Bacon 
Heather graduated from the University of Liverpool, UK with a first class Intercalated Honours degree in Veterinary Conservation Medicine and from the University of Bristol, UK with her BVSc (DVM) Veterinary degree. She has obtained her postgraduate Certificate in Zoological Medicine from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Heather has worked with a large variety of captive and free ranging wildlife both in the UK and abroad as well as numerous domestic animal species. Heather previously worked in China for 3 1/2 years as the Veterinary Director of the Animals Asia Foundation, a charity committed to improving standards of animal welfare. She is currently working as Veterinary Welfare Education and Outreach Manager in the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education (JMICAWE) at the University of Edinburgh, responsible for developing continuing education programmes for zoo, wildlife and domestic animal veterinarians in Europe and Asia. Heather's main interests are in veterinary education, anaesthesia, infectious disease prevention and captive wildlife management. Heather was invited to join the Bear Care Group Board of Directors in 2009.

           
Director: Valerie J. Hare
Valerie Hare co-founded The Shape of Enrichment, Inc. in 1991 and has been a principal ever since. In 2000, Valerie presented an enrichment mini-course at the Brazilian Zoo Congress in Belo Horizonte. With the help of its current instructors, that mini-course has evolved into The Shape of Enrichment Workshop and is designed to assist interested animal caretakers create enrichment plans for the animals in their care. Valerie is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Workshop Coordinator for The Shape of Enrichment, Inc. Valerie has worked as a Research Animal Care Supervisor (Massachusetts General Hospital), Zoo Keeper (San Diego Wild Animal Park), Behavioral Research Technician (San Diego Zoo), and Enrichment Consultant. As an enrichment consultant she has worked with giant pandas, polar, brown, spectacled, and sun bears. Valerie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology with a Zoology emphasis from San Diego State University and an Associates Degree as a Veterinary Technician from State University of New York. She has served on the International Conference on Environmental Enrichment Committee since 1997 and has been a director on the founding Board of Directors for the Bear Care Group since 2007.
           
Director: Angelika Langen
Angelika, a wildlife rehabilitator, is internationally known for her expertise on wild bear rehabilitation. In 1989, Angelika and Peter Langen founded the Northern Lights Wildlife Sanctuary in Smithers, British Columbia, Canada. Angelika and Peter are professionally trained zookeepers from Germany. Although all mammals and birds are accepted at Northern Lights, the shelter has become a haven for bears, moose, and deer species. To date, more than 190 black bears, 6 grizzly bears, and 2 Kermode bears have been/are being rehabilitated for successful release back into the wild. Since most shelters are unable to accommodate large mammals due to space and/or housing restrictions, Northern Lights has become the last refuge for bears from all over British Columbia.
           

Director: Lydia Lefebvre
Lydia Lefebvre grew up living and working around wildlife in northern Ontario and obtained her early knowledge of wildlife and bears by working around them in forests and remote locations.  Currently she works as an Animal Cruelty Investigator with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Lydia has worked for years with animal welfare societies as both a volunteer and board member.  Through the Northern Ontario Animal Welfare Society she has organized and led teams in the rescue of over 60 stranded dogs in a remote area in the northern wilderness.  Her career in the natural resources field and environmental consulting expanded to wildlife field work and she became a zookeeper charged with the care of bears.  As a zookeeper she has learned modern husbandry methods and environmental enrichment programming.  Lefebvre has created relationships with bears to improve their lives in captivity by observing and interpreting behaviour to determine the needs and how to best meet the needs of individual bears.  She has also trained bears to aid in the monitoring of their health and veterinary care.  As a consultant Lefebvre evaluated and commented on facilities and enclosures holding native and exotic species.


Director: Lory Palmer
Lory Palmer, RVT is a registered veterinary technician with 18 years of zoo experience. Currently, she works at America's Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College and at the Wildlife Waystation which provides rescue, rehabilitation, relocation and sanctuary to zoo, research, circus, and movie animals, and to local wildlife in need. Both of these facilities are located in the greater Los Angeles area. Lory has also worked at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens as a registered veterinary technician and as an animal keeper. Prior to that, she worked at the San Francisco Zoo as a zoo hospital manager and also an animal keeper. She felt privileged to work with and learn from Gail Hedberg, the Bear Care Group’s current Vice President. Lory's extensive professional experience includes working with American black bears, grizzly bears, polar bears, Andean bears, and sloth bears. She is currently working with Kodiaks and American black bears. Lory was the dynamic coordinator of the hugely successful silent auction fundraiser at the Advancing Bear Care 2009 - a position she is filling again for Advancing Bear Care 2011. Lory was unanimously voted to the Bear Care Group Board of Directors in 2009.


Director: Jason Pratte
Jay has been an animal caregiver for almost two decades, and has been privileged enough during this time to work with all eight extant bear species. His primary focus is training, both of the animals in our care as well as the caregivers. Behavioural husbandry training of bears and carnivores has long been a specialty, focusing on complex medical behaviours. The past several years has seen Jay involved with training animal keepers and caregivers around the world in operant conditioning techniques, with one of these adventures showcased on Animal Planet's "Growing Up Panda". Jay is on the AAZK National Behavioural Management Committee and also the AAZK Grants Committee. He is currently working on his Masters degree in Zoo and Aquarium Management. Jay is a director on the founding Board of Directors for the Bear Care Group.


Advisors: Lisa and Kurt Stoner
Kurt and Lisa Stoner have been friends for over 25 years and married since 1993.  Both Kurt and Lisa have extensive experience in all aspects of animal care and training in professional animal handling with a combined experience of over 58 years in caring for exotic animals and wildlife. They have worked and volunteered at zoos, exotic animal compounds, veterinary clinics, wildlife rehabilitation and education centers. Their expertise includes; cage construction, animal medical care, rehabilitation and release, animal husbandry training, education guides, and facility maintenance. In 1998, they sold their home in South Florida and most of its contents in a charity benefit moving sale.  With these funds, they founded Peace River Refuge & Ranch; a non-profit wild animal sanctuary dedicated to the lifetime care of nonreleasable wild animals. The sanctuary is an extension of their passion to improve the welfare of animals in captivity and to educate others to minimize human-wildlife conflicts. Lisa and Kurt have acted as advisors to the Bear Care Group Board of Directors since its inception in 2007.