Just as ABR was releasing healthy, plump yearlings back into the wild, on April 16th ABR received Bear #253, a yearling male.  Wildlife officers had tried for a week to trap the little bear, acting upon calls from concerned residents in the Calderwood area.  He was so clever in avoiding capture that his nickname is Wily Bear.  We are afraid that Wily Bear is representative of the yearlings that did manage to survive through the winter on their own.  He was surviving by foraging on whatever he could find, which was not much.  His weight, in contrast to our released yearlings, was half or less what they weighed.  Wily weighed just 16 pounds.  The lowest weight of any of our released yearlings was 40 pounds.

Wily Bear went to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for an exam.

Wily was examined at UTCVM by Dr. Morrison.

Wily was underweight for a yearling at 16 pounds.

For such a needy yearling bear, Wily was reasonably healthy.

Wily had several ticks that were removed from his fur.

His teeth looked quite good, considering his malnutrition.

After the exam, Wily Bear was transported to ABR.  He will be housed in an Acclimation Pen until he has finished his worm medicine and can be released into a Wild Enclosure.

Wily Bear arrives at ABR.

Like last year’s Woody Bear, the yearling will be ready for release into the wild after he has gained some weight.  We wonder if there will be more underweight yearlings who need the help of ABR.  Time will tell.

We will relate the stories of the seven other releases in our next posts.