Moving Day! - Appalachian Bear Rescue

It was a big moving day at ABR, when all of the bears who had been confined were moved into larger spaces. We’ll cover all the moves, starting with the first one, which was Daffodil. You’ll recall that Daffodil Bear was rescued on March 28th and after spending a couple of days in the ICU at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine she arrived at ABR on April 2nd, weighing just 11.46 pounds – very much underweight for a fourteen-month-old yearling. She was placed in the Red Roof Recovery Center and monitored closely. A little over three weeks later, Daffodil was showing signs of “I want out.” Curator Coy used the large transport carrier (the HRH 4000). In spite of her indications that she’d had enough of confinement in the Red Roof Recovery Center, it took some doing to get her into the carrier for the move.

Daffodil had almost doubled her weight since arrival. She weighed 23 pounds when she was moved!

Curator Coy had to use the “persuasion tool” to encourage Daffodil to enter the HRH 4000.

Daffodil was not too complimentary of Coy’s efforts. She didn’t enjoy her ride to her new digs.

As soon as they arrived at the Acclimation Pen, Daffodil raced out of the carrier.

The first thing she did was to go to the Food Wheel for a snack.

Daffodil Bear can see out into Wild Enclosure #3, where Hartley and Sweetie Bear are residing.

The plan is for Daffodil to remain in the Acclimation Pen for a few days, during which time the three yearlings can get acquainted by scent. Then she will join them in the enclosure. That is the curators’ plan…..we’ll see how that works. If she seems stressed, she will probably be released into the enclosure sooner. Stay tuned.