One of the perks of being part of the Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) photoclub is that we are sometimes given special access to the animals. A couple of weekends ago we were able to photograph the new Andean bear cubs as they get their first chances to explore the outside yard. Yesterday the bear cubs were given names, Chaska, pronounced Chas'-kuh, for the female and Bernardo for the male cub.

Here is a selection of photos from that weekend.







The lighting for that day was very bright and with dark bears, the contrast range was hard to photograph. I'm looking forward to my next trip to the zoo so I can get some photos in better lighting conditions. The bears will be viewable by the general public on May 22nd.