Our latest arrival,Myrtle Bear, the cub who was hit by a car on October 1st in the park, has spent a week in the Hartley House at ABR. Her exam at the UTCVM showed that she didn’t have any broken bones, and was pretty healthy. As a wild cub, she weighed only 27.6 pounds, less than our current residents, but that’s to be expected. ABR cubs eat a much more varied and enriched diet than do wild cubs.

To enrich the environment for Myrtle, Curator Coy brought fresh evergreen branches into her room. He also brought in a large kong toy.

The fragrant branches are familiar to the little cub, but the kong toy is to challenge her to get the treats out.

It didn’t challenge her for long. She figured it out right away – smart bear!She slept on the evergreen branches, ignoring her Not Myrtle friend.

Next morning, she set the kong toy upright, and treats spilled out!

Good work, Myrtle! She gobbled up the yummy treats.

She’s making good progress. The curators are cautiously optimistic about her recovery,  and are hoping to release her into a Wild Enclosure soon.

When that time comes, which group of cubs will she join? Watch this space.