Video shows B.C. grizzly basking in clawfoot tub

A donated clawfoot bathtub has become the preferred lounging spot for a pair of B.C. grizzly bears, who have been taking turns relaxing and reclining in it – with minimal sibling squabbling – for the past year.

A donated clawfoot bathtub has become the preferred lounging spot for a pair of B.C. grizzly bears, who have been taking turns relaxing and reclining in it – with minimal sibling squabbling – for the past year.

But after an appeal on social media by the BC Wildlife Park earlier this month, a second tub has been secured and they'll no longer have to share.

Dawson, a 500-pound female and Knute, a 700-pound male have been living at the Kamloops zoo since 2011 when they were orphaned and rescued by conservation officers after their mother was shot in the Yukon.

Tracy Reynolds, the park's animal care manager, explains that the tub isn’t exactly being used as originally intended.

"We wanted to have a water feature for them, but there's not many things that would withstand a grizzly bear. So we thought, maybe a cast iron tub, something that they wouldn't break," she told CTV News.

"We got one and put a plug in it, which was screwed down with a metal plate. But they pulled that out within 24 hours. So, our plan to have a pool didn't work, but they love the tub."

Since posting to Facebook asking for help sourcing an additional tub, Reynolds says they have one that will be set up in the coming days and offers of several more, which they plan to test out on the zoo's three black bears, who were also recued as orphans.