Chester Bear
One day an officer for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park transported bears ‘Chester’ and ‘Camper’ to ABR. Both yearlings were far underweight, weighing 30 pounds and 27 pounds respectively.
These stories will tell you a lot about ABR and what we do…and about where the bears come from that find their way to our one-of-a-kind Townsend facility.
These are heart-warming stories, all of them. Please feel free to share them with others!
Copperfield the ‘Disappearing’ Bear
Copperfield was orphaned when his mother was killed one day in Townsend. He was treed by dogs and spotted by a compassionate man and his wife. The couple watched him…
Bear ‘Hickory’ of Gatlinburg
One October ABR received a call from a local Park ranger. He told us that he was assisting the State of Tennessee in capturing two bear cubs. The cubs were on the edge of Gatlinburg and their mother had not been seen with them for several days.
Bobby Bear, 3-lbs Dripping Wet
Little Bear Bobby was found in a roadside ditch filled with water one dreary March. The TWRA officers who rescued him, having been alerted by passers-by, surmised that his mother had been moving her cubs,
The Story of Ham and Sissy
A mother bear was poached in March. People in the area found the sow’s body and called the TWRA. At the crime scene the investigating officers heard cries coming from a nearby den and, inside, found two tiny, 2-month old cubs!
Winston and Sadie, the Dumpster Cubs
After a year-long mast crop failure, mother bears were having a very difficult time feeding themselves and their cubs. By fall, some sows were actually abandoning cubs, an uncommon occurrence among bears.
‘Lucky Del Rio’s’ Rescue from the Mouths of Attacking Dogs
In April one year a TWRA officer rescued a bear cub who was being attacked by dogs. He was quick to answer the call about it even though he risked…
‘Highway’s’ Story
Bears are extremely resilient animals that recover rapidly from injuries. A good example of this is seen in the story of ”Highway.” A cub that was injured by a car…
Cades Cove Bear
In late June one year ABR received a call from a biologist with the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, regarding a bear that was trapped near the Cades Cove campground.…
An Amazing Cub Survival Story!
In April 2011, ABR cub #134 was picked up by visitors and transferred to rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, then transported to ABR.