Andean Bear

At the zoo this trip, we learned more about the Andean Bear. The zoo has a great printable here that we used.

Some interesting facts that the kids liked were:

• The diet consists mainly of fruit, bamboo, and palm stalks, but occasionally they'll have a mouse, or cow. Isabelle asked if they eat hippos, so we explained that hippos don't live in that part of the world.
• Only bear in South America. It is the sole survivor of a subfamily of short-faced bears (the Bulldog Bear, Arctodus simus) that was the largest predator in North and South America during the Ice Age.

In the 5+ years I've been going to the Phoenix Zoo, I've only seen this bear twice, making this a great experience. The kids really enjoyed watching it swim and cool off. So we compared that with how WE were all hot in the Phoenix summer, and headed to the splash pad to get wet and make the rest of the day enjoyable!

It's so simple to incorporate learning with even one animal. After we got home, we got on YouTube for our favorite bear song: I'm Going On A Bear Hunt. It's a great song for keeping attention, repeating words, following action words, and a fun moving around song.