A few days ago, there was an intruder at ABR – an intruder bear, that is.  Curator Coy saw an “extra” bear in one of the Wild Enclosures, and quickly realized it was a much larger bear than our resident cubs.  We have some photos to show how the drama unfolded.

The arrows show what Coy saw when he first spotted the intruder.

Coy spotted an unfamiliar bear in the Wild Enclosure.

The strange bear was much larger than the cubs.

The intruder bear appeared to be a healthy male.  Coy guessed his weight to be 150-175 pounds.

A handsome bear, indeed.

He didn’t belong in the Wild Enclosure.

Coy contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and asked for help in capturing and relocating the intruder.

Coy and TWRA officer David Whitehead took measurements.

The bear was given a lip tattoo and ear tags to identify him.  Coy’s estimate of his weight was good – the bear weighed 166 pounds.   He was taken to a release site a long way from Appalachian Bear Rescue.

Coy working up the bear.

This has never happened before, so ABR will review our fencing and find out how this can be avoided in the future.  Undoubtedly this intruder was attracted by the smell of good food that the curators provide for our cubs.  The story made the evening news on TV.  If you would like to see the clip, here is the link.