BONDING WITH BABY BISON IN SCV HUMAN CARING FOR TWIN.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS 

Staff Writer

NEWHALL - She warms the bottle just right, making sure it's not so hot that her young charge burns its mouth or so cold that the little one refuses it.

Shaking it fervently to ensure it's smooth, Debbie Pepe gets splashed with formula. She wipes it quickly. Pepe knows better than to keep this young one waiting.

"I never thought, in my entire life, I would be bottle-feeding a bison," Pepe said.

Bison, often confused with buffalo, are the largest mammals in North America, growing up to 1 ton. They run as fast as 40 mph and even jump fences. At Hart Park in Newhall, the small herd of bison, donated by Walt Disney in 1962, is a staple. Ten adult bison roam on 25 acres of protected land.

Then four months ago, one female bison produced something quite unexpected for her species. Bison No. 25, or Buffy as she is known, had twins.

It was December. The boy was coined Happy and the girl Merry.

While the animal caretakers were thrilled to see one in their herd give birth to two new additions, they quickly noticed that momma bison seemed close to just one of her young.

Buffy had given birth to Merry on a hillside, nursed her, and left her to sleep. What caretakers think is that she must have begun to feel a second set of labor pains when she had Happy -- and forgot about her firstborn.

"We didn't want to remove her but it was survival," Pepe said. As animal keeper at Hart Park, the decision fell on Pepe's shoulders.

"There are mountain lions up here, bears and bobcats ... it was about survival."

Rick Wallen, wildlife biologist and bison team leader at Yellowstone National Park, said the rarity of bison bearing twins could have led to the mother bison not bonding with her firstborn.

"It very well could be because of the rarity that she didn't know how to react," Wallen said.

Working with the 3,500 bison that roam in the park, Wallen said in his five years he has never seen bison twins.

But Wallen said the rare occurrence could be attributed to the favorable conditions the bison have in Southern California.

At Yellowstone, where the largest herd of bison roams in the United States, winters are harsh and starvation periods can be rough.

But in warmer areas, such as Oklahoma and California, food is more accessible.

And at Hart Park -- where animal caretakers make sure the bison have plenty of alfalfa, hay, water, salt blocks, mineral supplements, and grain if needed -- the bison are in a prime environment to breed.

"The fact that a female had twin bison is an indication of how well this group of animals is being cared for in that reserve," Wallen said.

"They have the energy to produce twins."

While it may seem to some that baby Merry could be at a disadvantage because of her domesticated upbringing, Wallen doubts she will have a problem when getting back with the herd.

"Bison are very gregarious and accepting of new young animals," Wallen said. "As long as they don't have to care for a baby, they will be interested in having social encounters with her."

And no other female bison will have to take on those mothering tasks with Merry -- feeding, protection, and comfort are now being taken care of by Pepe.

She argues that for her it is difficult to see it with such a human perspective.

"People tend to want to put human characteristics on animals but that can be unhealthy for them," Pepe said. "When you get to the professional level you understand the differences."

Pepe explained that Merry has simply imprinted on her.

Imprinting, mostly recognized in birds, is the associations formed during critical periods in an animal's life. The first 36 hours tend to be the most important for young creatures, when they learn who is meeting all their needs.

The energetic wag of Merry's mahogany tail when she sees Pepe approaching and the kind nuzzles that she offers her as she holds the bottle are examples of the bond these two have formed.

"I went through hours of training to learn how to feed her," said Eric Reifman, a recreation supervisor who works with Pepe.

"(Pepe) had to make sure I knew the right temperature for the milk, how to hold the bottle at the right angle, everything," Reifman added.

But Pepe's special connection with Merry was on full display on the light blue walls of her office. Laced with pictures of this 25-year veteran animal caregiver in action, there seems to be an apparent majority of pictures of Pepe with Merry.

"I work hard not to have emotional attachments," Pepe said.

But, she'll admit that Merry has been a first for her on many levels.

"It sounds like I'm her mother," she said with laugh.

"I'll give you that."

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3 photos

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) At left, animal keeper Debbie Pepe feeds baby bison Merry at Hart Park in Newhall. Pepe has been caring for the baby who was abandoned by her mother. Below, Happy, at lower left, drinks with the herd.

(3) Animal keeper Debbie Pepe feeds formula to a baby bison named Merry at Hart Park in Newhall. Pepe has been caring for the baby who was abandoned by her mother.

David Crane/Staff Photographer.