ABR’s Rockin’ For the Rescue Benefit Concert 2026
Sunday, March 29
Join us from 12-7pm for a family friendly afternoon at The Shed in Maryville.
The line-up is stocked full of 5 amazing bands. Come for one or stay for all!
Limited Tickets Available – Buy Yours Here!
DONATE TODAY!!
February 15, 2026 - Happy Belated Valentine's Day💕
Yesterday, ABR staff, board and volunteers were all occupied with our Facility Tours. We all had a wonderful time and were so grateful that the rain held off the whole day! We certainly felt the Valentine's Day love from all of the folks who came to the tours as well as from the rest of our ABR supporters. We were so proud to show off all of the work we've been doing the past year. The energy from everyone was contagious and we felt incredibly encouraged by all of you. We couldn't do what we do without your support!
Please enjoy this Valentine's Day "advertisement" from Ms. Prescott's 5th grade class in Illinois, made especially for ABR. As many of you know, Ms. Prescott has been following Appalachian Bear Rescue for many years and has taught her class each year about our mission, as well as how they help can keep bears wild! We always love hearing about what her class has been up to and are honored that ABR makes her curriculum.
From Ms. Prescott:
"Dear ABR Family,
We are honored to present to you our 2026 Appalachian Bear Rescue Valentine's Day commercial! We have worked hard on writing the script, collecting the props, and producing this fundraising commercial for our future black bear cubs at ABR. A special thank you to all of our supporters who have sent us can tabs, stuffed bears, donations, and encouraging letters while we have been waiting for our new cubs to arrive. We are beyond excited to see the wonderful ways Appalachian Bear Rescue will continue to save orphaned and injured black bear cubs! 🐻
Thank you all BEARY much!❤️"
Ms. Prescott's 5th Grade Class
Barkstall Elementary School
Champaign, Illinois ... See MoreSee Less
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February 12, 2026 - The Art of Building Acclimation Pen Platforms
Weather: 54F (12C), Sunny 🌞
Yesterday Curator Tom took full advantage of the unseasonably warm and sunny day we had here in East Tennessee. One of the smaller details that needed to be completed was the resting platforms in the acclimation pens of the new Wild Enclosures 5 & 6. Curator Tom was exactly the person we needed for this job because he is a seasoned veteran at building resting platforms🔨👷. The very first step to this process was completed 2 months ago, when the perfect red cedar tree trunk was found to be the middle anchor point. Cedar wood is well known for its resistance to moisture and rot, something that is very useful in a temperate rainforest environment! Next, 2x4 planks are anchored in a "wheel" fashion around the cedar pole and then attached to the chainlink fence on the other end. Once this platform "skeleton" is in place, the flat wooden planks can be screwed on in sort of a tetris-like fashion. These particular planks are cypress planks that our ABR Friend Michael brought from West Tennessee. Curator Tom made sure to leave the curator favorite "scat gap" between the planks on the platforms, to ensure cub scat can easily be washed off the platforms through the cracks. We appreciate Tom's fine craftsmanship, even if it wasn't built for our enjoyment! Every day, we check more items off of our "to-do" list and every day we get closer to being cub-ready!🐻 ... See MoreSee Less
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February 10, 2026 - 🐻🍫Cocoa Cubs and Sweetheart Bears, Oh my!
💖We have been diligently working on shipping out orders from our Valentine's Chocolate Pre-Order. These chocolates are so adorable and we can't wait for you or your loved one to see! Whether is the smooth creamy milk chocolate Cocoa Cubs, or the rich and intense dark chocolate Cocoa Cubs, or the Romantic Sweetheart Bears that offer a collaboration of each milk and dark chocolate.
👀It was a task to keep Greg out of these tantalizing chocolates but lo and behold Greg found an injured Dark Chocolate Cocoa Cub (his favorite). The Cocoa Cub was taken to the Cocoa-narian to evaluate the cub's future. The cub's prognosis was dire and it was determined that the cub must be consumed post haste. Although, heartbroken with the cub's conclusion he is happy to report he highly recommends these indulgent chocolates made locally by The Chocolate B'ar of Townsend.
💘Join us tomorrow at the Galentine's Girl's Night Out with Ladies Lifestyle Network Knoxville from 5:30 - 8pm at Mis Amoré Cafe in Knoxville! A portion of tickets sales go to ABR.
🎟️Also, TWO tickets are available for the 2pm Facility Tour this Saturday! Hurry and snag them!! ... See MoreSee Less
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Today, we ask that you join us in remembering and honoring Jim Hart, a man whose contributions to preserving and protecting the mountains that our bears call home cannot be overstated. During his time as Executive Director and President of Friends of the Smokies, Jim was instrumental in raising awareness and funds for ABR at a time when our budget was very limited. We are incredibly grateful for his contributions to the success of our mission and our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family. ... See MoreSee Less
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Get ready to rock for a cause!🎸
Join us at The Shed Smokehouse & Juke Joint in Maryville, TN on March 29 from 12pm -7pm for Rockin' for the Rescue--a high energy fundraiser celebrating 30 years of Appalachian Bear Rescue!
Enjoy Five amazing musical acts, fabulous local vendors, and fun for the whole family. Kids 12 & under are free, so bring the crew and help support a great cause!
Rock out, Give back, Save the Bears!
Limited tickets available! Use the link below to purchase your ticket today! ⬇️⬇️
appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/tickets-abrs-rockin-for-the-rescue-benefit-concert... ... See MoreSee Less
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January 5, 2026 - On this day in ABR History (2 years ago)🐻
Today marks the 2 year anniversary of a very joyous day for Appalachian Bear Rescue. It is Bits Bear's foster anniversary!
Bits Bear and his brother Nibbles came to ABR in late January of 2024 from Blount County. We don't know the exact situation that lead to the cubs' orphaning, but essentially their mother was scared away during a property owner's clearing of downed trees from after a storm. The property owner had no idea a bear was denned nearby and between chainsaw noise and dog barking, Nibbles and Bits mother fled their den and never came back. These two tiny bear cubs were only a few days old, practically hairless and completely helpless. They would only live a few hours without the warmth and milk from mom.
ABR staff received both cubs into our care and tried our very best to take care of these tiny cubs at our facility. However, due to their very fragile states, we decided to bring them to stay full time at the University of Tennessee with the wildlife veterinarians for around the clock care. Very little bears are difficult to care for in every way - difficult to feed, difficult to keep warm, and difficult to get to relieve themselves. This is why we try to find wild bear mothers to foster very little bear cubs to. After all, bear mothers know best! Unfortunately, despite everyone's best efforts, Nibbles bear passed away before we could find a suitable foster mother.
However, on February 5th of 2026, Bits Bear made the journey to meet his new wild family. With help from the National Park and the state, the foster attempt went smoothly and he was accepted by his new mother! While we don't know exactly what Bits Bear is up to these days, we do know that he was spotted with his mother and 3 foster siblings in the summer of 2024 as a healthy and rambunctious cub! Enjoy this post from 2 years ago about Bit's foster day. The resilience of bear cubs (even at a few days old) never ceases to amaze us. We wish Bits Bear all the best in his life as a wild bear! ... See MoreSee Less
2 Years Ago
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Join Greg for a quick update and a chance to ask questions about the current on-goings at ABR ... See MoreSee Less
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Please join us in 30 minutes at 2:00 PM EST for a Facebook Live session with new "official" Executive Director Greg Grieco.
See you there! ... See MoreSee Less
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January 2nd, 2026 - ABR's New Executive Director (Officially!)🐻🫡
"On behalf of the Appalachian Bear Rescue Board of Directors, we are proud to announce that Greg Grieco, Interim Director has been promoted to Executive Director for our organization.
Greg has led ABR through a major transformation, raised funds for our recent new enclosure project and continues to build a new partnership with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency as we work towards receiving bear cubs in the future.
Please join me in congratulating Greg on his hard work and commitment to bringing the rehabilitation of bear cubs back into existence." -Michael Smith, Board Chair
🐻Greg started working at Appalachian Bear Rescue back in 2016 in between his work as a seasonal Wildlife Ranger in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Once he became a full time Ranger, he still worked closely with ABR. Throughout his 9 years at the NPS, he admitted and helped release dozens of ABR bears including Sparks, Augustus, Myrtle, April, and Tartan.
Greg came back to ABR full time in the Spring of 2024 and has been acting as Interim Executive Director since July 2025.
Greg feels that through his work at ABR, he can make a meaningful difference not only for the black bear cubs in ABR’s care, but for all bears in the greater Smoky Mountain region. He enjoys working with surrounding communities and local stakeholder to educate about bears and habitat conservation. He says his favorite thing about Appalachian Bear Rescue is it’s wonderful supporters, without whom none of this work would be possible.
Greg feels closely connected to black bears and often remarks that they are an inspiration to him due to their resilience in addition to their opportunistic feeding nature!
Appalachian Bear Rescue is grateful to have Greg’s leadership and his fierce appreciation of bears as we move full steam ahead into our 30th year of our mission of giving bears a second chance.🐻
If you've read this far and you'd like to meet Greg in person, we still have 4 facility tour spots open on February 14th - 2 spots at 8am and 2 spots just opened up at noon! Grab yours here: appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/2026-abr-facility-tours-building-new-tomorrows ... See MoreSee Less
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