All of the work recently at the ABR facility was completed just in time to welcome our newest yearling bear.  Colton is named for the new baby boy born to Curator Coy and his wife just a week ago.  Here are pictures of Colton Bear in the newly remodeled Palace!  The first photo was taken shortly after he arrived at ABR on August 15th.  He was introduced to the Palace and started to explore.  In the second photo, it looks as though Colton Bear is doing pushups, no doubt to keep up his fitness level for his eventual release. 

Colton is an average size for a yearling cub, but he was hanging out at a hotel in Gatlinburg.  TWRA officers felt that he would soon become a food conditioned bear.  Because the soft mast in the wild (berries and summer fruits) are finished for the season, and the hard mast (acorns and other nuts) are not quite ready, they decided to let him spend a few weeks at ABR where he would not get in trouble or become accustomed to humans and human foods.  After the acorns are ready in the wild, Colton Bear can be released into a forested area.  Being a youngster, he can learn to be wild , as he will not be exposed to humans or their food while he is at ABR.