Home sweet den: Little Ricki is settling in at her new digs on the Colorado plains

Little Ricki is reportedly doing well in her new Colorado home.

Pat Craig, executive director of the Wildlife Animal Sanctuary, sent an update in an email Saturday on the black bear rescued last week from a small cage at Jim Mack's Ice Cream in York County.

"I would like to thank you for caring enough to check on her condition, as well as for anything you may have done to help attain her release," Craig wrote. "Ricky [sic] was definitely in need of help, and the actions of many people brought about a very positive solution for her."

Craig said she has received numerous messages from people who wanted to know how the bear was doing.

"We can promise you she will enjoy her new life here in Colorado," she said.

The bear lived for 16 years in her cage off Lincoln Highway in Hellam Township.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, a national nonprofit organization, spearheaded a lawsuit to free Ricki from the cage. Lancaster residents Amanda Welling and Kelly Bennett and a couple from Red Lion acted as plaintiffs in the suit.

Thousands of people -- including British comedian Ricky Gervais -- signed petitions supporting the suit.

The bear's owner, James H. McDaniel Jr., agreed on Jan. 9 to surrender Ricki. He also is prohibited from keeping wild or exotic animals in cages at the site.

In return, the ALDF dropped its suit.

Realizing the bear would be unable to survive in the wild, the plaintiffs sought a sanctuary where she could live out her days among other bears and with room to roam.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, agreed to take her. Ricki was removed from her cage at Jim Mack's on Jan. 9 and transported overnight in a trailer to Colorado.

The sanctuary has more than 150 rescued black, brown and grizzly bears, all of which came from "very severe confinement conditions," Craig said. All of them, she said, "have made the transition from being kept in horrendous confinement, and many were starved or abused in other ways -- yet each has successfully recovered and gone on to live happy and very fulfilling lives."

Once Ricki arrived in Colorado, she was placed in a small pen within the 15-acre black bear habitat. The enclosure, Craig explained, will give Ricki time to adjust to her new surroundings and begin feeling safe to move around.

Ricki, Craig said, "needs to spend a number of days in this environment so she realizes she has plenty of food, water and personal care, so that she understands she does not have to compete for these essential items."

Ricki's rehabilitation program "will include spending a week or two in the introduction enclosure so that she has the time to get used to the sights and sounds of her new home," she said.

It also gives her an opportunity to get to know other bears with a safe barrier between them, she added.

"Ricky [sic] is acting very comfortable already, and has already started to play inside her den and is enjoying rearranging her straw & grass bedding," Craig wrote. "She has been nose-to-nose with a number of female Bears that came to greet her (through the fence) ... and is eating lots of fruits, vegetables, meats and sweet treats."

Once Ricki is comfortable, and if she doesn't go into hibernation this season, the sanctuary staff will open the enclosure door so she can come out if and when she chooses, Craig said. She can also retreat back to the enclosure if she feels nervous.

"Eventually, by spring, Ricky [sic] will have abandoned her introduction enclosure (and den) and will have picked another den as her own somewhere within the habitat," Craig said. She can choose to share a den or live alone, she added.

"In the long-term, Ricky will gain lots of muscle from the added exercise she will get from covering much larger areas and playing with other Bears," she said.

"Thanks to many people and the ALDF, Ricky will be able to live out the rest of her life in a much more natural space."

The habitat where Ricki will live, she said, has a mix of open grass fields, trees, ponds and lakes.

The sanctuary is open to visitors and provides elevated walkways so guests can see the animals without interfering with them.

For more information, visit the sanctuary online at wildanimalsanctuary.org.