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Monday 10am - 4pm Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 4pm

http://appalachianbearrescue.org/

Appalachian Bear Rescue, Townsend, TN (2025)

08/15/2025

ABR Daily Update-August 15, 2025-Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Weather: 90F (33C) Humidity 60%, Cloudy ☁️

Today is the long awaited return of the Terminator on ABR grounds. Mulcher Machine is back and is in action. With this, we take another step towards getting the construction of the newest enclosures off the ground. The mulching machine makes short work of clearing out the overly dense brush, grinding down fallen trees, removing stumps, and widening existing roads.

With these landscaping alterations, we can start moving forward on the process of acquiring the vast amounts of fencing needed and planning for the construction of the acclimation pens. This is the first major step in building the newest enclosure, and we are very excited for it. We can not thank you enough for your overwhelming support and generousity that has allowed us push forward in our endeavor to help orphaned cubs.

Please consider donating to the Cubs Forever Campaign to further help us build a better tomorrow for cubs. https://appalachianbearrescue.org/cubs-forever-campaign/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR4YErrz13wtUnQj7D0f_DrPR-CPUYKONJWDuK2__7sBh99NGlXCZpfxHaQXVg_aem_AbkukCftDpuTiBK_eUju_A

Also, register and join us either in person or virtually for the 10th Annual Bearly 5k Walk/Run in Townsend! https://appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/cubs-forever-tee-copy?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6ZXqayRBgT4_FlfqU3p1lbPmufjHdCsQ81DrFOZtbPa3JZTRJy4A9P-RAx-A_aem_iZBx_s2j8bPOSGWvivnVOw

🎉Our Visitor & Education Center at Trillium Cove is open! Please click on the link for more information:
https://appalachianbearrescue.org/contact-us/

🛑bearwise.org offers excellent information on what black bears are up to at this time of year and what to do if you hike or live in “Bear Country”.

08/14/2025

August 14, 2025: A Lifesize game of pickup sticks (well, logs) 🪵🪚

Weather: 89F (32C) - Feels like 97F, Sunny ☀️

After a short break from the August heat last weekend, the humidity has come back with a vengeance here in East Tennessee and the curators are, well, very sweaty. They are currently playing a life size game of “pickup sticks”. The rules of the game are simple: make the mess of logs less messy without getting injured. The tools that are allowed are hand saws, chainsaws and your own two hands. Luckily curators are always the picture of safety, but it’s a slow and thoughtful process getting the fallen trees in a workable organized mess. After our friends from Rimel’s Property Services and Riggins Tree Services came and fell around 45 trees on Monday, curators have spent the last few days tidying up for the next stages of the fence building. This will help the chipping/mulching process go faster as 80+ ft trees get made into more manageable “Seth sized” logs. While the “Terminator” (Mulcher Machine) will be coming back tomorrow to make light work of these downed trees, it’s easier if the tree trunks are in more manageable pieces. It’s kind of like rinsing your dishes before putting them through the dishwasher!

Thanks to the incredibly generous outpouring of support from all of you wonderful supporters, we are rolling right along with all things enclosure expansion and although we may be quite sweaty the next few weeks, we are very grateful for the sweat because it means we are moving forward🐻

08/13/2025

August 13, 2025: Change 🔄

There have been a lot of changes at Appalachian Bear Rescue as of late. However, our mission to help orphaned and injured bear cubs in need has always remained the same.

Most recently, you may have noticed a change in our Facebook profile picture! For years our profile picture was “Ham in a bucket” – a nod to ABR Bear #132, aka “Ham”. Ham was a resident cub of Appalachian Bear Rescue in 2011. He arrived with his sibling, ABR Bear #133 (aka “Sissy”) and together they helped us cross international borders with our message and the important work that we do. With ABR’s page created in 2010, the cubs of 2011 were some of the earliest and most widely shared examples of what giving bear cubs a second chance is all about. Thank you to those of you who have been around since then. We hope that these past bear residents have had and continue to have success as wild black bears.

Our new profile picture is of a much more recent ABR resident, Bear #403 from 2024, aka “Jackie P.”. Jackie P. arrived at the ABR facility on May 30th 2024 after a driver in Sevier County noticed a small bear cub that had been hit by a car. The cub was unresponsive at the time. After an exam at the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine, it was determined that the young male bear was concussed but otherwise stable. After nearly seven months in our care, Jackie P. was successfully released back into the wild on December 17th 2024. Thank you for allowing us to help bear cubs like Jackie P. and Ham return home to the wild and thank you for continuously supporting us as we work to write this new chapter together.

Speaking of new chapters, we have some exciting news!

Shortly after launching our Cubs Forever Campaign Daryl Ratajczak reached out to us with a very generous offer. Daryl is a seasoned wildlife biologist who has worked for both state and federal wildlife agencies throughout his career and…ABR! Daryl served as the very first full-time manager of our organization back when we still went by the “Appalachian Bear Center”. In fact, many of ABR’s historical cub records are filled with Daryl’s detailed footnotes and entertaining commentary that curators still reference to this day. If you would like to get a glimpse of what his adventurous professional career entailed, you can purchase his chapter book titled “Spooning a Bear”. Daryl has generously offered to donate 50% of his book's proceeds for the next three months to ABR’s Cubs Forever Campaign goal to help us welcome bear cubs back to the special facility that he once managed. You can buy his book on Amazon by following this link: https://a.co/d/6OsDjnV. Thank you so much to Daryl and to all of YOU. We couldn't do it without you!

08/12/2025

August 12, 2025: CAMPAIGN UPDATE 🐻🌡

Yesterday we were able to break ground on some of the final facility improvements that will enable us to welcome bear cubs back to Appalachian Bear Rescue. We are only able to do so because of your generous support. To date, we have raised just under half (~48%) of our total campaign goal!! In just THREE WEEKS, you have helped us raise $326,268.00. We are blown away by your continuous support for Appalachian Bear Rescue's mission and for your commitment to giving bear cubs in need a second chance at life in the wild. Thank you so, so much. ❤

08/11/2025

August 11, 2025: It’s been a busy Monday at Appalachian Bear Rescue! Today our bear facility was visited by Riggins tree services and Rimel's Property Services to begin work on some of the infrastructure improvements that will need to be completed before we are able to welcome bear cubs back to our facility.

One of these improvements is to double the amount of wild enclosure space that we currently have available to house cubs in. Plans for a 5th wild enclosure at Appalachian Bear Rescue have been in motion for many years now, with nearly a third of the fencing having already been completed before the COVID-19 shutdown. Newly agreed upon state and veterinary requirements will require a few alterations to our original plan, but we are so glad that the previously completed fencing work is still usable.

The location of future wild enclosure 5 is behind where wild enclosures 1 and 2 currently sit and if you’ve followed along with us long enough, you know that everything at ABR’s facility is uphill! To ensure that water flow and runoff from one enclosure does not make its way into another, we will be installing a French drain system. The French drain will redirect any potential runoff from wild enclosures 1 & 2 away from where wild enclosure 5 will be. Before constructing the French drain, multiple trees needed to be cut and cleared from both inside the perimeter fence and outside. The wonderful professionals from Riggins tree services and Rimel's Property Services cut approximately 45 trees for us in total. We cannot thank them enough for all of their hard work and for getting us that much closer to being able to welcome bear cubs back to the ABR facility!

After the trees were felled, curators began breaking down the large brush piles of branches and logs that were left behind. Some will be chipped and shredded and the rest used for brush piles inside of the wild enclosures, or for other future bear enrichment. Thank you to everyone who bid on the beautiful bear painting by Monica Wells. "A Mother's Love" painting will be on its way to its new home soon and we hope to have more paintings to auction off in the near future. 😊 Thank you so much for your support. 🐻

08/10/2025

August 10, 2025:📣Going once, going twice...📣

A very happy Sunday to you all. We would like to extend a large thank you on behalf of all of the detectives (curators) for all of your helpful comments and insights regarding this weeks riveting "who dunnit" mystery case of the crime against Cornwall the faux crow. With your help, we were able to go into this past weekend with easy minds as the suspect was apprehended! Lucky for us, the Crowley Cowe Sisters, Bovines at Law, did not feel the need to get involved in this case due to the swift release of the guilty bear. So far we have had no run-ins with them this summer and we would like to keep it that way.

This evening's update serves as a "last call" to go vote on the original painting, "A Mother's Love", painted by artist Monica Wells. We are sure that this artwork will look beary good in your home! The auction officially ends TONIGHT at 2am EST (11pm PST for our West Coast friends) and you certainly don't want to miss out. Proceeds from this painting go directly to our Cubs Forever Campaign to help us build new tomorrows for future cubs in need. Put in your bid TONIGHT at https://www.ebay.com/itm/286742974937

08/08/2025

August 8, 2025: Apprehended 🐻🕵️

Some local eyewitnesses have courageously come forward, offering their firsthand accounts of the crime against Cornwall, the faux crow. Their faces have been obscured to protect their identities but we applaud them for the information that they shared. These testimonies led detectives (curators) to apprehend a roughly 2-year-old female black bear that later admitted to the crime. This suspect was a first-time offender without any priors, and so she was released. Though not before receiving a steep citation and a final warning! May Cornwall the faux crow rest in peace... The End.

While this mini mystery series was just for fun, much of what occurred during the “crime” is very realistic for those of us who either live in or are visiting bear country. Unsecured human food, trash and recycling are some of the main attractants for bears that live among residential areas or pass through them. However, bears are also very curious creatures and there is no shortage of internet videos out there that show bears comedically investigating hammocks, pools, Halloween decorations and more! While something silly might attract a curious bear, something tasty will attract ANY bear.

With our rescue facility located just outside of the Smoky Mountains, it’s imperative that we have bear-resistant trash receptacles on-site. And because we do, this curious visitor bear was only able to access Cornwall the faux crow (unlucky for Cornwall) before going on her way. If we had bird feeders hanging from the office tree instead of Cornwall, the likelihood that this bear would have stuck around or even come back again later increases exponentially. We hope (in the nicest way possible) that we never see her again. ☺️ If you ever do experience a bear that’s making you feel uncomfortable around your home, please contact your state wildlife agency for further advice and assistance.

There are only two days left to bid on the beautiful painting by Monica Wells titled "A Mother's Love". Proceeds from this auction will go towards helping us meet our Cubs Forever Campaign goal and get us one step closer to being able to welcome cubs in need back to our facility. As always, thank you for your support. Have a good weekend! https://www.ebay.com/itm/286742974937

08/07/2025

August 7, 2025: New Evidence Surfaces

After obtaining a warrant, ABR detectives (curators) were able to review video surveillance of the facility grounds. By sheer luck, one of the security cameras captured the entire crime! After sifting through hours of footage, the crime and the suspected criminal were caught on film. We must warn you, viewer discretion IS advised...

Now that the ABR detectives (curators) have a physical description of the suspect, a true search is underway. A profile of the suspect was ran through our sophisticated ursus-indexing system and the results are pending. If you have any tips or leads, please leave them in the comments below. If you happen to recognize the suspect's profile from video, feel free to contact us anonymously at: 1-(800)-TIP-BEAR.

Remember, this suspect is armed and extremely curious. Do not attempt to apprehend, but report to the proper authorities right away! This investigation is ongoing. To be continued...

08/06/2025

August 6, 2025: There's Been a Murder 🐦‍⬛

At approximately 8:52AM on Wednesday, August 6th 2025 a murder was reported…

And not the usual murder, a group of crows, that is commonly seen at Appalachian Bear Rescue (often stealing food from our wild enclosures), but instead a rather “grizzly” scene that our curators stumbled upon as they arrived for work.

The victim, our trusty faux crow Cornwall, has been a set piece at ABR’s facility for many years. Since 2016, he’s worked diligently to ward off the other crows that sometimes frightened past cub residents, like Eliza Bear from 2016 and Otto and Rollo Bear from 2017. After four years of service, Cornwall was reassigned to a tree outside of the curator’s office. Here, his job was to deter select bird species from nesting in the lower branches where their eggs could be eaten by lurking predators.

Who or what committed this atrocious act against Cornwall? What motive could result in such a travesty? Did Cornwall have enemies he slighted in the past?

Our detectives (curators) have gathered evidence left at the scene of the crime that might help lead us to the culprit. Stay tuned to see who murdered Cornwall the faux crow. To be continued...

08/05/2025

August 5, 2025: Cubs Forever Campaign Update

We have raised 28% of our total campaign goal!! Thanks to generous friends like you, we have brought in $191,534.00 to the Cubs Forever Campaign. Besides giving directly to the campaign, there are many other ways that you can help us reach our goal!

These things also help us:
- Sharing our posts and updates with your friends and family
- Making purchases in our online store (https://appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/)
- Registering for ABR events (https://appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/cubs-forever-tee-copy)
- Becoming an ABR member (https://appalachianbearrescue.org/become-a-member/)
- Telling others about the work that ABR does
- Participating in ABR's online auctions (https://www.ebay.com/itm/286742974937)
- Sponsoring an ABR event (https://appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/cubs-forever-tee-copy-1)
- Selecting ABR as your charity of choice when shopping Walmart's Roundup Program (https://www.walmart.com/sparkgood)

We can't thank you enough for helping us build new tomorrows for future bear cubs in need. 😊

08/04/2025

August 4, 2025: Artwork Auction 🎨🐻

A couple of weeks ago, artist Monica Wells Art
stopped by our Visitor and Education Center with a beautiful canvas painting of a sow and her cub. Monica had heard about our Cubs Forever Campaign and offered to share her beautiful artwork with us to aid in fundraising efforts.

This canvas painting titled, “A Mother’s Love”, is now available for bidding on ABR’s eBay. Proceeds from this auction will go towards helping us reach our overall campaign goal. Bidding starts at $100 and will remain open until next Monday, August 11th at midnight ET.

We hope to continue collaborating with Monica on an upcoming series of paintings that will be specifically crafted for Appalachian Bear Rescue and our Cubs Forever Campaign. Thank you so much to Monica for generously offering up her talent to help our cause. You can bid RIGHT NOW at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/286742974937

Appalachian Bear Rescue

08/15/2025

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Monday	10am - 4pm
Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
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