On April 19, a cub was found on a trail in Big South Fork, a wilderness area west of Knoxville, TN. The cub seemed to be injured, as it was crying and not moving. There was no mother bear in sight. The Park Service took the cub to UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for examination, where the ABR curator met them. The bear is a female, almost three months old, and weighs 5.42 pounds. She has a broken left humerus (the bone that runs from shoulder to elbow). The left side of her mouth was also injured, requiring the removal of four of her baby teeth. Following the examination, the cub was released back to ABR, where she is resting in the Cub Nursery until Monday when she’ll return to UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for surgery to repair the broken humerus bone. Please welcome Rescued Bear #400, nicknamed Tots Bear.
We don’t know what happened to Tots, but she may have been attacked by an animal (all her injuries are confined to her left side) or she may have fallen from a tree. Dr. Swanepole said the break in her humerus is in the middle of the bone, and not in a growth plate. The fracture was a clean one and should heal well. Her adult teeth should also come in normally. At present, Tots is on pain management medications and antibiotics and is quite groggy. However, during the night and early this morning, she lapped some 20% strength goat’s milk and Pedialyte from a bowl, a good sign.
Here is Tots Bear, where she was found:
Bear #400 – Tots Bear
We had another post ready to go, but due to computer issues we couldn’t post it until today. So it will be above this, probably, but we wanted to get the news out about Tots Bear!