Can you believe it? Joy, the elder of our two beloved American black bears, is celebrating her 20th birthday today!
Joy officially Judge Joy Reynolds was born on Jan. 27, 2001; her sister, Judge Sue Sloan (“Lady”), was born a year and four days later (Jan. 31, 2002), and so turns 19 later this week. The bears came to the Baylor campus two decades ago from a private Oregon ranch when they were each about four months old. At that age, taking care of the bears was much like taking care of any baby minus the milk guzzling and 30-pound weight. Their Chamber-member trainers learned what life was like as single parents for the few months the bears needed constant attention. Mornings began at 8 a.m. with the first formula feeding of the day, five hours of exploring and walking around campus, then another feeding.
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WACO, Texas (Jan. 11, 2021) – Baylor University announced today that Judge Lady, one of the University’s two beloved American black bears, is progressing to the next phase of her recovery and rehabilitation from a successful operation to remove a cyst that developed around her spinal column. The surgery occurred in August 2020 at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) in College Station.
Under the close and loving watch of her dedicated caregiver team, Lady, 18, has steadily progressed through the first few phases of her recovery plan primarily in the privacy of her personal living space within the Bill & Eva Williams Bear Habitat, a Class C Zoo regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture.