ST. LOUIS — We've all been missing our animal friends at the Saint Louis Zoo, and it seems like the feeling is mutual.
Jim Saali took video on Wednesday of bear siblings Huck and Finley jumping up and down in the water while getting a close look at visitors on the other side of the viewing glass.
After months of being closed, the zoo is currently open for members and will reopen to the public on Saturday.
"It was so wonderful to be back with 'our friends,'" said Saali, whose family received a zoo membership as a Christmas gift. "They say true friendship picks right up where you left off!"
According to the zoo, jumping in the water is a regular activity for the bears.
"They’ve been doing this since we opened the exhibit in 2017. The bears are young and playful and seem to enjoy it and interacting with the visitors," said zoo curator Steve Bircher. "It’s a natural behavior for bears, especially young bears, to jump to obtain food or other enrichment items, in both zoos and the wild."
"It’s so great to be in the community and smile and to have the animals seem to be genuinely excited!" Saali said.
To limit crowd sizes and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, guests must register ahead of time for a specific time slot on a specific date, which will become available seven days prior to the date.
Reservations for this weekend are already sold out, according to the zoo's website.
The zoo also offers daily rotating livestreams of some of its most popular animal enclosures. You can watch Huck and Finley at Centene Grizzly Ridge every Tuesday and Saturday.
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