Stella was the twelfth yearling cub to be admitted to ABR, on February 19th.

She has settled in to her new home and spends a great deal of time resting quietly.  She and her crib mate, Ripley, have come to accept each other, though they are not best friends as yet.

When she is not resting or napping, Stella makes the rounds of all the food offerings in the crib, and as you see in one of the photos, she is not shy about sitting right down on top of her chosen food pile as if to stake her claim.

Stella is the smallest of the ABR bears — she weighed just 10 pounds when she arrived, and we mentioned that this is the normal weight of a 3 month old cub, not a 12 month old yearling.  However, she is doing well and will undoubtedly gain enough weight for a release in late spring or early summer.

Even deprived and underweight yearlings are able to recover and thrive when they receive good nutrition and a safe haven.