A Tragedy Too Soon
Monika is actually Jhonny III Welde’s wife, which sort of made her an outsider in the family. The family tradition of having the bears became dicey when quite recently Jhonny III, the caretaker and the patriarch of the family died of a heart attack just after he turned 60. Monika said, “I know the bears miss him, they do notice his absence.” She continued, “but our son and I decided to continue the family legacy and go on for my husband.” Monika decided to not let anything happen to the Ranch and she along with her son Jhonny IV who is 27 years of age, decided to take the responsibility.
Hand Raised 14 of ’em!
The Bear Ranch is Jhonny IV’s inheritance and Monika has been taking care of these bears for 37 years now, but how do they manage it? Monica has been in the Welde family for 37 years and she has handraised the 14 bears who currently live in the Bearadise Ranch. When asked if she prefers bears more than humans she laughed and said, “Yeah, sometimes I do.” Well, there is got to be something really interesting and inspiring about these bears. She informed that “Over the course of 91 years some bears have been born in the family, some have been adopted.”