In our last post we reminisced about the five months that Magnolia Bear spent at ABR by posting photos taken during her stay.  We saw how she arrived as an underweight, sixteen-month-old yearling and left as a healthy, 80 pound, twenty-one-month-old, ready to return to her home state of Louisiana.

As promised, today we will share the photos of her release day.  The curators use a passive capture method to make the process as painless as possible for the bear that is being sedated for workup.  The door to her Acclimation Pen had been left open for several days to let her wander in and out, and get food in the pen as well as in the enclosure.

Magnolia Bear came into the Acclimation Pen, lured by the treats there.

Curator Coy and Officer Hank Atkins drive down to the pen.

A quick jab with the dart stick that immobilized Magnolia.

Magnolia Bear is taken to the staging area.

Her eyes are covered. A sedated bear can’t blink.

The yearling is measured to see how much she has grown.

Magnolia’s paws are checked.

Magnolia’s paws have grown.

Magnolia has gained 20 pounds. She weighed 80 pounds at release time.

Magnolia is fitted with a GPS collar.

Louisiana plans to follow Magnolia for a couple of years.  They will capture her and check/replace the collar as needed to learn where she goes and how she lives.

Curators David and Coy load Magnolia into the transport carrier.

Curator David signs the transfer papers.

Curator Coy prepared pine chip bedding for her long trip to LA.

Magnolia Bear is ready for the trip to her home.

This is how we will remember our LA yearling.

We wish Magnolia Bear a long and happy life in her home state of Louisiana.  Hopefully she will have cubs in a few years, to add to the state’s population of black bears.

Officer Hank Atkins sent us this video of Magnolia’s actual release.  We can see that she ran off into the LA woods immediately.  Click here to see the brief video clip.