05/05/2022
Such a tiny one...glad he was rescued ❤
https://www.facebook.com/100064761994078/posts/377482324420498/?sfnsn=mo
ABR Newsflash!-May 5, 2022-Rescued Bear #349 Arrives🐻
Early yesterday evening, a family contacted ABR and the TWRA about a cub on their property. It had been crying for several hours and there was no sign of its mother. TWRA Officer Musser, who took the assignment, wanted to arrive on the scene before dark. However, returning to the office for capture equipment would have wasted precious time, so she asked our curators to bring traps and meet her on-site. Officer Musser baited the traps with fruit, then withdrew with the curators to wait. And wait. And wait. The cub stopped crying and apparently went to sleep. Shortly after midnight, the rescue team called it quits and decided to return in the morning to try again. 💤
Early this morning, another family, a few houses away from the original scene, called ABR about a cub crying in THEIR yard. Our little bear had moved during the night! After calling the TWRA for permission, our curators raced to the address to pick him up before he could pull another disappearing act.
The cub is a male, about three months old, and weighs 3.63 pounds (1.64 kg). We don’t know what happened to his mother. A cub this young can’t survive on his own and waiting for his
mother to come back was no longer an option.
The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine was slammed with emergencies today, so the cub is resting in Hartley House and will go to UT for examination tomorrow. He’s lapping Pedyalite and diluted bear milk replacement formula from bowls. Since he can feed himself (bonus!), he can skip bottle-feeding and confinement to a pen in The Cub Nursery. He has two rooms in Hartley House and several members of the ABR Volunteer Toy Brigade are keeping him company. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we’ve named him Taco Bear.🐻🌮
Our deepest gratitude to the families who reported Taco and our thanks to Officer Janelle Musser who just started with TWRA last week. She comes from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and we welcome her to Tennessee. 👏
