Orphans come home to Minnesota Zoo

Capers the sea otter was a 5-pound ball of fuzz when he was found orphaned on the Alaskan coast. Sadie the grizzly bear was a 23-pound orphan found rooting in a garbage dump in Alaska. The grizzly bears and otters -- along with the rare Amur leopards and wild boars -- have journeyed from afar to finally settle into their digs at the Minnesota Zoo's new "Russia's Grizzly Coast" exhibit. Here are some of their stories: Capers the otter After he was found in June 2006, Capers was rehabilitated at the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward, Alaska. He would have died had he not been rescued, said Melanie Oerter, an otter expert at the zoo.

Like other pups, Capers' birth fur, called natal pellage, was so dense that it kept his body dry and unable to sink. But that also meant he couldn't dive for shellfish and other food on his own until he got older, she said.

He's grown into a curious and mischievous rascal who strolls, swims and uses his forearms to meticulously groom and fluff his fur, which is important to his survival.

Capers runs, dives and floats on his back with paws folded over his chest and flippers on his abdomen. He and other otters like to find a rock that they use as a tool, sometimes tucking it along with shellfish into an armpit until they float on their back, turning their chests into a table upon which they pound the rock to crack shellfish.

One of Capers' favorite pastimes is eating and playing with ice. He and the younger otters also love to carry toys and are learning to play fetch.

Because otters can be destructive, even unscrewing bolts secured with human tools, Oerter and others provide lots of enrichment and tasks to keep them busy.

The three bears The summer of 2006, Sadie was a 23-pound orphan found digging in a garbage dump near Sadie Creek in Kotzebue, Alaska. It's unclear what happened to her mother, or how long the 6-month-old had wandered.

Sadie always had moxie and though she's the smallest grizzly, she has from the start been the grunting, growling boss of the two male bears, said Diana Weinhardt, who supervises the Russia Grizzly Coast and Northern Trail exhibits.

Now 2 1/2 years old, Sadie weighs nearly 300 pounds and will grow to about 500 pounds.

Haines the bear was nearly 50 pounds and 7 months old when he was found wandering in a yard in Haines, Alaska. The darkest of the brown bears, he is secretive and willful. Now 400 pounds, he delights at lumbering into the training session of other bears, demanding the training treats for himself.

"He's on his own schedule," Weinhardt said. "He does what he wants to do, when he wants."

Kenai weighed 28 pounds when he was brought into the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center as an 8-month-old runt in August 2006. His mother had charged a hunter and dog and then been shot to death near Kenai, Alaska.

He and the other bears flew in a Federal Express plane to the zoo on April 18 and underwent a 30-day quarantine at the zoo. Kenai now weighs about 320 pounds.

The three bears frolic in their new trout pound and dine on not only fish but fruits and vegetables. They huff and snuffle around their exhibit, with its plants and pools, and love to climb on the artificial boulders.

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017