2015 is proving to be a very busy year for Appalachian Bear Rescue.  Over the weekend we admitted our twentieth cub of the year – ABR Cub #221.  The very malnourished little male cub was found near Heritage High School in Blount County TN, the county in which ABR is located.  He was rescued on Gamble Street, thus he was given the nickname “Gamble.”  Here he is right after arrival, ready to take a trip to the UT Vet School for a checkup.

Cub 221 – Gamble Bear in the carrier for trip to vet.

He is very underweight for his age.

Gamble Bear let everyone – wildlife officers, curators, and everyone else – know that he has no use for us humans!  He had lived in the wild for all of his nine months of life and is truly a wild little bear.

UT vets gave him a thorough checkup.

He had to be sedated for his exam, to protect him as well as the vets.  He did not understand that people were trying to help him.

Gamble’s teeth show that he is malnourished.

He looks very small on the exam table.

He receives oxygen during the exam.

Finally the ordeal was over, and he was  taken back to ABR. He was released into his own, private acclimation pen, where he will stay while taking his meds.  This is the same procedure that has been followed for Tedford, Derby, and Pumpkin Bear.

Gamble calmed down a bit when he was in the larger pen.

He immediately did what a bear cub does – he climbed to the top of the pen.

Gamble climbs up the side of the pen.

The curators are glad to see that Gamble can climb.  That is a skill that the cubs must demonstrate before they can be released into the Wild Enclosure.