When Bears Need a Second Chance

Appalachian Bear Rescue (ABR) based in Townsend has helped rehabilitate orphaned and injured bears since 1996:

83 bears assisted by ABR

0 bears released from ABR facilities that have later been reported as a “garbage” bear or a “nuisance” bear

5 pounds, how much a cub must weigh to be bottle-fed at ABR every three to four hours; officials try to immediately pair lighter cubs with surrogates in the wild

1 acre bear enclosure where spring-born weaned cubs are released in June, when they also cease interacting with humans

60 pounds minimum weight for a cub to be considered able to sustain itself in the wild

2 1/2 years old, the bear discovered at Cades Cove in 1997 with a stick embedded in her leg that weighed just 49 pounds

6 weeks later, she was fully recovered and released

1 black bear, Ursula, was first raised by humans and now lives at Black Bear Falls at the Knoxville Zoo

6 current bears at the facility, including “BJ” and “Smoky”

0 number of people allowed to watch the bears at ABR, as per Tennessee law, though the group posts photos and will soon add a live Bear Cam to its website

Source: Appalachian Bear Rescue

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