One of the most popular places to visit on Baylor University’s campus is the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat, home to Baylor’s live bear mascot. The first habitat was built in 1945, but through the years the desire to increase the quality of life for the bears drove the university to rebuild the habitat again and again, until it became the haven it is today.
Baylor has had a live bear mascot since 1917. The first live bear mascot, Ted, often called “Bruin,” belonged to a nearby Camp MacArthur soldier, who let students parade the bear across the football field during a game and then left the bear to the students when he was deployed overseas. Ted served as Baylor’s mascot until the early 1920s. As there was no habitat at this time, Ted was kept at the Texas Cotton Palace’s small zoo. The bears following Ted would sometimes live off campus but were for the most part kept on university grounds, usually in a pen along Waco Creek. In 1932, Baylor student Bill Boyd acquired a bear named Joe College from the Cotton Palace, which was closing. Joe had been a show bear, and his friendliness and personality quickly made him a favorite of Baylor students. Boyd kept the bear in his backyard until Joe grew to weigh 500 pounds and could no longer be safely housed at his residence. At this point, the Baylor University Chamber of Commerce volunteered to build him a home on campus. Joe College was retired in 1940, and Chamber officially assumed care of his successor, Little Joe.
In 1945, Chamber raised the funds and built Baylor’s first real bear habitat. Located (as it is today) on the banks of Waco Creek, the habitat was known as the “Bear Pit.” It featured a swimming pool and space for the bears to climb or walk around, surrounded by a barrier originally made of iron bed headboards. The Bear Pit underwent renovations in 1949, 1953, and 1969. Chamber also added a trailer in 1953 which transported the bears to and from football games, when previously the bears had been transported in a car or train. The bears frequently tested the strength and security of the Bear Pit with their repeated and often successful escape attempts. The Pit was the home of Baylor’s bears until 1977. At this point, the university decided to demolish it and build the Steve Hudson Memorial Bear Plaza in its place. The Steve Hudson Memorial Bear Plaza was built into the sloping bank of Waco Creek, with an open area where the bears could exercise at creek level and pens and viewing decks at ground level. It was three times the size of its predecessor and included a waterfall and AstroTurf. The Plaza held a Class-C zoo license from the United States Department of Agriculture and was approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to hold up to three bears.
In 1999, Chamber began pushing the university to update the habitat again, and in 2003 the university finally began the process. Chamber members worked with administrators from Cameron Park Zoo to develop the plans for the bears’ new home. The new habitat opened in 2005, and university administration named it the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat Complex after the project’s lead donors. This complex, which still houses the university mascots, is Baylor’s most sophisticated habitat yet. The environment resembles the bears’ natural environment and includes many new features designed for the enrichment and care of the bears. Another major change to the enclosure was the elevation, as the whole complex was raised to ground level. Viewing areas encircle about half of the outside border, allowing visitors to easily observe the bears’ behavior, and placards provide information about both the history of Baylor’s bears and about black bears in general.
The Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat is the safest place on campus and could withstand winds from a category five hurricane, according to the Robert Reid Director of the Baylor Chamber of Commerce, Dakota Farquhar-Caddell. The habitat received accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 2021. It is the only university mascot facility to achieve this designation and one of only two AZA accredited zoos on a college campus. Finally, the university added a Community Education Pavilion to the complex in 2022, promoting community engagement and education about the bears.
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]]>Wildlife expert and storyteller Harley Berg provided entertainment for those across Central Texas in the mid-twentieth century. Broadcasting from the local KWTX to the homes of Wacoans, the Harley Berg Show emphasized the importance of wildlife and provided conservation tips. Engrossed by Berg’s animal exhibits and captivating narratives, viewers tuned in weekly to the popular show.
Fascinated by wildlife since his youth, Berg enjoyed hunting, fishing, and exploring nature from his family’s move to Texas in 1913. Those early interests guided his career path as he decided to become a game warden. Berg, along with his wife, son, and mother-in-law, eventually settled in Waco in late 1949, where he continued his work as a game warden. His passion for wildlife inspired the creation of a traveling wildlife exhibit sponsored by the Parks and Wildlife Department and often featured at state fairs. The subsequent popularity of the exhibit spurred KWTX’s general manager M.N. “Buddy” Bostick to invite Berg to the big screen.
The first episode of the Harley Berg Show premiered on April 4, 1955, at 7:30 p.m. Donning his game warden uniform, Berg began telling stories he had collected over the years while he displayed a largemouth bass, green sunfish, and bluegill. In the episodes that followed, Berg featured various animals brought in from the San Antonio Zoo, including mountain lions, snakes, porcupines, and various species of fish. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provided funding for the animals’ transportation, but Berg hosted the show nearly free of charge. He appeared regularly on Monday evenings in a half-hour slot, live and unscripted.
Messages that encouraged the protection of wildlife struck Berg as most important. He taught his audience about ecosystems and how they could improve wildlife habitats. He explained how overfishing led to dilapidated lakes and why listeners should not hunt nongame wildlife. Once, he brought a hawk on the show to explain that hawks helped control rats, mice, and other insects and did not pose a threat. He also outlined the importance of poisonous snakes and spiders and informed viewers of protocols if ever bitten. Many viewers expressed that Berg’s informative show helped them protect themselves and animals when they encountered wildlife in their communities.
Despite the show’s popularity, the television station briefly halted production after they were acquired by a larger network. Complaints from those in the community spurred the show’s reinstatement. Though the network initially provided a fifteen-minute slot, Berg contended that he needed more time to tell his stories. While some stories contained exaggerations, many came from Berg’s personal experiences. His fascinating tales about nature and wildlife remained a prominent feature of the show, and with broad audience support, the Harley Berg Show began once more on Sunday afternoons in a half-hour slot, where the show remained until its final episode.
Though the show primarily focused on wildlife, Berg also diverged into other topics that he felt offered important information to viewers. He provided recipes for deer chili and deer jerky. One episode touched on how to identify glaucoma, which aired after Berg was diagnosed with the eye disease. He also received over two thousand requests for a printed snake bulletin that contained information regarding identification of poisonous snakes and first-aid, which he sent to viewers across Central Texas. And after years of transporting animals from San Antonio to Waco, he sought to form a local zoo. The local zoo project and Berg’s wildlife advocacy aided the later establishment of Cameron Park Zoo.
Those who watched the Harley Berg Show ranged from people in nursing homes to schoolchildren. Fisherman, doctors, farmers, preachers, and professors expressed interest in the show and wrote letters to signal their support of Berg’s work. When The Texas Outdoorsman magazine featured Berg on the front cover, hundreds of viewers requested autographed copies. He received invitations to speak at universities across the state, including Texas Christian University, Baylor University, and Texas Southern University. He also spoke to Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps and elementary and high school students. With over nine hundred episodes airing over the years, Berg relished the support of viewers across Texas.
At the end of each episode, Berg concluded in three languages—English, German, and Spanish. In what became his signature sign off, Berg stated, “This is your old wildlife man saying, amigos grande y chiquitos, grosse und kleine freunden, big and little friends, bye for now.” He continued to close out with that message until the late 1970s. Remembered as a friend to wildlife, Berg passed away in 1979.
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]]>What began as a small collection of native animals in the 1950s grew into the Cameron Park Zoo Wacoans know today. Cameron Park Zoo rests on fifty-two acres of land near the Brazos River, and is a popular stop for local families, school groups, and travelers making their way to Austin or Dallas on Interstate 35.
Originally organized by local wildlife enthusiasts, the collection of animals came together for the purpose of education and with the goal to showcase real, live animals to the public of Central Texas. In 1955, wildlife volunteers displayed mammals and reptiles at the Heart O’ Texas Fair. The small exhibit attracted donations from the visitors who supported the formation of a zoo. After the fair, the animals moved to a pet shop display in Waco on Twenty-Fifth Street. In 1956, the animals moved again to a fire station, and then in 1960 the animals moved to a permanent ten-acre site by Lake Waco and the Madison Cooper Municipal Airport known as the Central Texas Zoological Park.
During its early years, the park was a large collection of animals held in various enclosures with a food preparation area made of rock walls and a dirt floor. At its location by Lake Waco, staff members of the Central Texas Zoological Park worked hard to make the zoo operate professionally. Civic groups of volunteers raised money to build a nursery clinic for the animals and a kitchen to prepare food. Throughout the 1970s, zoo docents organized educational programs for McLennan County residents and the zoo built an entryway facility with a gift shop and ticket office. With all these moves forward, however, the zoo’s infrastructure and income could not support the dream of a sophisticated and scientific organization or the growth and nutrition of the animals. The zoo needed to move and rebuild. In order to make the dream a reality, community members interested in wildlife conservation joined the board of directors and pushed towards legitimacy and a more sophisticated institution.
In the late 1970s, the zoo became an entity of the city of Waco, and the discussion of moving locations began. Leaders of the zoo recognized Cameron Park as the perfect location because of the abundance of flora and fauna, ponds, and other natural elements that many city zoos have to build. Interest in the project gained momentum throughout Waco, and members of local civic organizations became heavily involved with raising money to move the zoo. After voters defeated a referendum to move the Central Texas Zoo from Airport Park to Cameron Park 1983, a county bond election was held and a vote passed in support of the zoo’s move to Cameron Park for 9.6 million dollars. The new zoo, known as Cameron Park Zoo, opened its doors on July 18, 1993, on fifty-two acres of lush land with over forty animals in natural habitats.
Since its opening in 1993, Cameron Park Zoo built new attractions such as a reptile house, Lemur Island, an African lion exhibit, and more. In 2005, the Brazos River Country exhibit opened to showcase indigenous plants and animals found on the banks of the Brazos River. In 2009, the Asian Forest exhibit opened with orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and Komodo dragons. Cameron Park Zoo is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the staff provide care, training, and nutrition to animals. The Cameron Park Zoo not only is a recreational place to see animals, but is an educational resource for students from early childhood to graduate school education. The zoo holds seminars for international research and plays a large part in wildlife conservation by caring for endangered species and returning animals to the wild.
Today, Cameron Park Zoo is home to over 1,700 animals that are given care from the staff and veterinarians. The zoo continues to host opportunities to learn about the wildlife in the forms of school field trips, educational events, and fundraising events, and it is one of the top sites to visit in Waco.
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