The curators noticed that our newest cub, King B (Balthazar Bear) had a distended belly, not just a chubbifying one. Curator Coy took the little bear to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for a checkup.
The vets gave King B a thorough examination, checking him over from nose to nubbin. Blood was drawn, and the samples were normal. King B on the X-ray table. When the X-ray was read, it showed no problem with his bones, but there were a lot of parasitic worms in his belly, no doubt the cause of the bloating. When he returned from his exam, the first thing he did was check his treat ball, the next thing was to eat some chicken baby food with worm meds, and then he crashed on his bed. In the morning, he went into Room 2, where there were some new things to discover. He ate some more food with worm meds (good bear!) He was curious about the newly installed firehose hammock.
Bear cubs are very much aware of their surroundings and attentive to anything new, like the hammock. The question is: will King B climb into it? We’ll have to wait and see. Stay tuned.
