Summer Time-Waster: Zoo’s Grizzly Bear Cam on Ustream

It’s hard to accomplish much of anything at an office job on such a glorious summer week. So why even bother trying? Enter the Woodland Park Zoo’s Bear Cam on Ustream, starring the zoo’s seventeen-year-old grizzly bear brothers Keema and Denali.

Dedicated viewers have waited for more than a year for the return of the Bear Cam, which is now back with 24/7 live online video made possible by the zoo’s exclusive partnership with Ustream. The newly-launched Bear Cam feed provides incredible views of the spontaneous environment and can be accessed at www.zoo.org/bearcam. Viewers can also choose to join in on the active social stream and chat room with other Bear Cam fans while tuning in at http://www.ustream.tv/woodlandparkzoo, which is also available whenever connected to Ustream on mobile devices, Internet connected TVs, Google TV and Boxee.

As a special treat, this morning the bears got beehive-shaped pinatas filled with coffee grounds care of Caffé Vita, honeydew, pears, apples, grapes, and honey. On a normal day, you can fire up the Bear Cam to watch Keema and Denali forage for food, fish for trout, and explore their home in the zoo’s Northern Trail exhibit.

On the Northern Trail, the bears also have new neighbors, in the form of four-month-old porcupines, Molly and Oliver, who recently arrived at the zoo from Weickert’s Wildlife in Minnesota. (Fingers crossed on a porcupine cam with the porcupine’s natural prey, balloons.)

For bear activity, the best times to tune in to the Bear Cam are 10-11 a.m. and 2-3 p.m. PDT.