Persimmon Bear arrived on October 20 after being injured by a car.  She had fractured ribs and lung contusions and was in a fragile state.  She was housed in the Red Roof Recovery Center after being examined at UT, but it didn’t take long for her to let the curators know that she wanted out of that confinement.  They moved her into the Acclimation Pen for Wild Enclosure #2 on October 29th.

Persimmon Bear in Acclimation Pen.

This gave her more room than she had in the Red Roof Recovery Center.

She was able to walk around the pen. Note the gate to the Wild Enclosure – her next stop.

She had a nice big bowl of food.

Persimmon made short work of the food in her bowl.

She wasn’t satisfied for long, though.  After two days she was letting the curators know that she wanted out into the natural space (Wild Enclosure #2) that she could see outside the pen.  So on November 1st they granted her wish and opened the gate so she could go outside.

Persimmon Bear surveyed her new domain.

She started to explore the habitat.

Persimmon Bear foraged for the yummy foods (muscadines, peanuts, acorns) that the curators threw over the fence.

Persimmon Bear seems much more content now that she is out in a natural habitat.  This will be her home for the remainder of her stay at ABR.