Local family finds unusual pets easy to "bear"

Ruby List – Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – Kids discuss their parents in school…what they do, how they act, etc. But LRHS senior Angelica Welde has a different story to tell. Her family raises bears. No, you are not reading that incorrectly; her family has a business of keeping and raising grizzly bears.

A very young LRHS senior Angelica Welde poses with her mother on a family bearThe Welde family raises the bears from birth to adulthood and keeps them throughout their lives unless they sell them. The bears are sold to state fairs, taken to circuses, and used for speeches and presentations about conservation of the species (no killing of bears) and prevention of cruelty to animals. While they do control breeding, they try to keep the bears as free as possible.

Sixteen acres of land in Myakka allows the Weldes to keep 14 bears on their property.

“They’re like big dogs to me,” said Welde, who’s not afraid of them at all.

“I love taking care of them, especially the cubs. When they reach around three months their head is always too big for their body so when they try to walk they totter and wobble, it’s so cute.

“I don’t have a favorite,” Welde also stated, “they are all awesome and I name them all but I love them all equally”.

How did they get into the business of raising bears?

“My great-grandfather came from the Ringling, rehabilitating the bears in the circus so it continued through the generations. We have two enclosures for the bears on our property so they can walk around and have fun just like if they were in the wild, we just feed and take care of them.”