Keeper at Toledo Zoo Makes Special ‘Milk and Cookies’ for Resident Brown Bears & It's Too Cute
If there is anyone who could have a cooking show for specifically for bears, we think it would be Kristen at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio. The keeper is an expert! She recently went viral for the positively delish "milk and cookies" she made for the Brown Bears at the facility. And people are really loving the recipe she shared.
Fair warning, this is probably not the kind of milk and cookies that we're used to. But if you're a Brown Bear and you're reading this, this is the perfect snack for you.
Who doesn't like a plate of cookies? Or to wash said cookies down with a cold glass of milk? Instead of piling up the Oreos, Keeper Kirsten has to make the Brown Bears' cookies from scratch. And she makes them with ingredients that only a bear would want to eat.
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The base of the cookies is "bear chow," which is sort of like cat or dog food — but specially formatted for bears. She added bananas for moisture, and then blueberries as "chocolate chips" — and voila! The perfect "cookies" that are healthy and won't make the bears sick. Of course, she served the snack with "milk," which were frozen mixtures of fluff and water. What a treat!
Commenters were obsessed with the bear-y good looking snack. "IDK why but milk and cookies feels appropriate for bears," one person mused. "Why did no one tell me this was a career option in high school?" another person wondered. "This was so cute, such a wonderful enrichment for the bears!" another commenter praised. "To be a bear chef is to live," someone else joked.
What Do Brown Bears at the Zoo Eat?
It goes without saying that bears in captivity have a slightly different diet than bears out in the wild. So what are bears in zoos fed? There are two different types of Brown Bears; Grizzly Bears and Kodiak Bears, but both have a similar diet.
Brown Bears are omnivores, so they eat both meat and vegetables. In the wild, Brown Bears eat fish and berries — specifically trout and salmon. They'll also dig for tubers using their claws and have been known to prey on moose or caribou too.
At the zoo, their diet is slightly different. They're typically fed fish, apples, carrots, peas, pears, tomatoes, and corn on the cob. Food can also be part of how zoos give bears enrichment time. Usually a zoo will freeze things like pumpkins and melons for bears to try and get into. It engages their minds just as much as their stomachs!
Later in the video, Kristen showed the bears enjoying their snack. We had no doubts, but it seems like everyone really liked their food!
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