On Grandfather Mountain, six bears live: Carolina, Yonnie, Kody, Smokey, Flower and Fanny May. Whether it’s a tablespoon of honey water, a refreshing dip in the pool or long day sunbathing, the bears are always busy. But who takes care of them? 

Keepers Alyssa Iampietro and Skylar Walker are ready to face whatever bear necessities come their way. 

Iampietro, App State class of 2022 alumna, has worked at Grandfather Mountain for over two years. A biology major, Iampietro said she wasn’t sure what career path she wanted to follow when she first arrived at App State. Through Handshake, she found an internship at the North American Bear Center, which at the time housed four rescued black bears. She spent that summer working with the bears and teaching educational programs.

“I loved it,” Iampietro said. “I was like, ‘This is it. I love bears. Bears are my favorite animal.’”

Walker, App State class of 2024 alumna, began working at Grandfather Mountain just after graduation. Having an extensive background in reptile biology, Walker said the transition to mammal biology was a significant learning curve. Before Grandfather, Walker worked as a tortoise research technician at the University of Georgia and spent time in Belize conducting crocodile research.

“I really wanted to be able to broaden my horizons and say that I’ve worked with multiple different species than just reptiles,” Walker said. While Grandfather Mountain doesn’t have designated “bear keepers,” Iampietro and Walker work with individual bears, handling everything from feeding and socializing to training.

Iampietro said each bear is assigned a specific trainer. For her, Smokey and Flower are the bears she spends the most time with. The goal during training sessions is for the bears to be able to “participate in their own care.” That includes showing them their paws and teeth during veterinary exams.

“If they are helping us with those things, we don’t always have to sedate them,” Iampietro said. “Putting them through those procedures comes with quite a lot of risk because there’s a lot of variables that we can’t control in a zoo like you could in a standard vet office.” 

When Walker first began at Grandfather Mountain, Iampietro took the lead with Smokey while Walker became her “secondary” caretaker. Since then, Walker has been the primary trainer for Carolina, the oldest bear at Grandfather Mountain.

Walker said the trainers do “Overlook Trainings,” where the public can view the bears in their habitats. One of Carolina’s newest behaviors is waving to guests at the park.

Walker said Carolina “very much likes to show off” and is a “sassy old lady.” Iampietro said Carolina “has her opinions and does not hesitate to let you know what they are.”

Kody and Yonnie, the second oldest bears at Grandfather Mountain, arrived as a pair from a facility out west in the 1990s to 2000s as part of a now completed conservation program to rebuild the local black bear population.

Iampietro said Kody and Yonnie have lived together their whole lives as mates. Kody is the only male bear at Grandfather Mountain and, as Walker describes, a “scaredy cat.”

“He is really special because he is also something called a cinnamon phase black bear, which means he is a black bear with a brown coat, which is particularly rare on this side of the country,” Iampietro said. “It’s a little bit more common out west and up in parts of Canada. But over here, it’s a very, very small percentage of black bears that have that brown coat.”

Yonnie is what Iampietro described as “the sweetest bear” but “not the brightest bulb in the bunch.” She can be identified by the large white patch on her chest.

Smokey and Flower work alongside Iampietro in their training sessions. Smokey and Flower came to Grandfather Mountain as cubs and have lived together ever since. Iampietro said this is uncommon, as black bears are solitary animals.

“Smokey and Flower especially are strange because they’re both females, and females are the territory holders in the black bear world,” Iampietro said. “There’s typically only going to be one female per territory unless there is a mom with cubs. So, for two females to share a territory is quite extraordinary for black bears as a species, so it’s really awesome to see those two maintain their friendship even into their older age.”

Walker said while Flower is laid back, she has her “sassy moments” — unlike her sister Smokey, who is consistently sassy.

And then, there’s Fanny May, the youngest of the bears on Grandfather Mountain at eight years old. Because of how young she is, Iampietro and Walker said she is much more energetic. Iampietro said she considers Fanny May to be the “smartest animal on the mountain.”

“She’s a little bit of a trouble maker and she definitely defends her territory,” Iampietro said. “Because of that, she does not get along very well with pretty much any of the other bears and is known to frequently share unkind words with them at the fences.”

Iampietro said the bears at Grandfather Mountain don’t hunt animals, so when a guest approached her with concern, she was surprised. She said a guest told her Carolina had “got a bird.” Iampietro said she thought they were “yanking her chain.”

“Carolina’s 28. She doesn’t even like to get up for anything. That bear is not hunting birds,” she said.

She said then a volunteer at Grandfather Mountain approached her with the same message: “Dude, Carolina just totally ate a bird.”

Iampietro said Carolina has no teeth. Her caretakers soak her food so she can eat it. Iampietro said she thought it had to be an elaborate prank.

“He told me from his first hand account that she was just sleeping and a bird wandered up to her right by her face and she just opened her eyes, grabbed it, stuffed it in her mouth and swallowed it whole,” Iampietro said. “Later that day, I went into her habit and there was just a little pile of feathers where she was laying.” 

Iampietro said every time she looks Carolina in the eye she thinks about that moment, because it was unlike anything she’d seen a bear do.

Grandfather Mountain, along with much of Western North Carolina, was affected by Hurricane Helene. Iampietro said they were “incredibly lucky.” She added she was certain that, once they reached the mountain, fences would be damaged and an animal would have escaped.

“I couldn’t get in contact with really anyone except for a few of my close friends that lived in Boone with me,” Iampietro said. “So I said, ‘Hey guys, I’m going to try and get up to the mountain today. Who wants to come with me in case a bear got out?’”

She said they wanted to lay eyes on every single animal and check the fences. Aside from downed trees on the pathways, the fences remained undamaged.

“We had finally been able to get eyes on every single animal except for one. We could not see Fanny May, the really crazy rambunctious young bear who is known for her trouble-making,” Iampietro said. “So instantly, we were a little bit nervous because we were like, ‘Oh gosh, of course if anyone’s going to get out, it’s going to be Fanny May.’”

She said despite no downed trees in Fanny May’s enclosure, they still couldn’t see her, until Iampietro called her name. Fanny May poked her head out from behind a tree, sat down, and began whining.

“It was so sad to see this bear who is typically, again, very energetic. She was just being so sweet, it really broke my heart,” Iampietro said. “She was probably so scared, but it was that moment that I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, everyone is okay. I can’t believe that this happened.’”