On June 19th, ABR received another rescued cub-of-the-year. A little female, #311, nicknamed Sunflower Bear, was chased up a tree by dogs along with her mother and a sibling. Her mother and sibling left her behind when they climbed down from the tree. She was too frightened to come down and stayed in the tree for more than a day even after her family had left. South Carolina DNR thought she might be injured, so Bear Force One was recruited once again.

Captain Tom Sabo flew to the rescue, and Drs. Cushing and Cerreta from the UT College of Veterinary Medicine went along, hoping to examine her en route, at the airport. That wasn’t possible due to the weather, so TWRA officer Kim Coldwell met the flight at the Gatlinburg airport and took the cub to ABR.

This little cub is missing an ear, perhaps due to an earlier encounter with dogs, which would explain her fear of coming down the tree. Her nickname is a tribute to a famous painting by a very famous artist who also had one ear missing. She was housed in Hartley House Room 3 until she could travel to UTCVM for her complete exam.

We will post more about our newest arrival as soon as we have the results of her exam.