A Special Post! - Appalachian Bear Rescue

If you have followed ABR for a few months, you probably remember when a homeowner in nearby Sevier County discovered a bear family denning under the house. The three tiny cubs were rescued by TWRA and brought to ABR, but the very next day their mother returned (she’d been frightened away) and the ABR curators helped the TWRA officers to reunite the family.

The kind homeowner agreed to let the bear family remain in their den for the winter. We were able to install a camera to take pictures and let us see how the mama bear cared for her cubs in the den.

The bear family spent the winter in their den under the house!

In early April, Mama Bear decided it was time to leave the den and take her cubs out into the world.

The mother bear led the way out. Goodbye to the den (house) and hello to the woods!

We were privileged to see the actual den behavior of a mother bear with her cubs. We hope that they are doing well out in the wild.

We also want to share the plans for Wild Enclosure #5, which will be started as soon as our current cub residents have been released. You’ll see that it is larger than the others, which will make it possible for ABR to care for more cubs. If we ever have another year of mast failure, like the 2015-16 year, when we cared for a record number of cubs and yearlings, we want to be prepared. Mast failures do happen every few years.

Here is the planned Wild Enclosure #5 Expansion. We have been raising funds to build this enclosure.

If you wish to help with this project, the address for ABR donations is https://www.facebook.com/donate/190887303163760.

Thank you!