You may remember that Persimmon Bear, our most recent arrival, was injured when hit by a car.  The accident left her with broken ribs and a damaged lung, and her condition at admittance was precarious.  That was not quite six weeks ago.

Our photographer of record, Ken LaValley, came to take some photos of Persimmon so the curators and the UT vets can observe her condition now. The results are almost unbelievable!

Persimmon Bear was snoozing in a daybed.

She started to awake with a yawn that showed off her long tongue.

(Almost) fully awake, she raised her head into a shaft of sunlight.

Persimmon showed that she is much better and seems to be back to normal.

She lay beside a sapling in her enclosure.

Bear cubs like to play with saplings. Persimmon is no exception.

The sapling will get the worst end of this encounter!

There is no doubt that our Persimmon Bear has recovered from her injuries.  Her cubby instinct to destroy saplings is definitely working well, too.  She should do well when she is back in the wild.