NORTH AMERICAN BEAR CENTER

The North American Bear Center is a nonprofit museum with indoor and outdoor viewing of live black bears in natural habit with a pond and waterfall. The 2.5-acre enclosure is home to four resident bears – Ted, Tasha and Lucky, and Holly. The educational mission of the NABC is to replace myths about bears with reality; with over 50 video exhibits of wild Minnesota bears, a wide variety of daily programs, and a hands-on children’s area, people of all ages learn bear behavior from the bears themselves. It is recommended to allow at least a two-hour visit for this unique, world-class experience that the whole family will enjoy! ~Explore Minnesota

If you are ever near Ely, MN you will want to stop by the North American Bear Center. I happened to be in the Ely area this last weekend visiting the International Wolf Center on the opposite end of town.

I was traveling with two other photographers; we were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. We had finished viewing the expansive exhibit and went out on the observation deck. No bears were out in the main enclosure at the time. We did notice four bear center staff off in the distance with a photographer. As luck would have it, we were waved over for a more up close and personal view. This was certainly a better perspective to capture the bears. There was a local professional photographer there shooting to provide updated photos of the bears at the center. We were allowed to shoot through the fence from that location. It was magnificent to see Lucky and Holly sparing, rolling around in the grass and just simply being bears.