On April 11, 12, and 13 most of the 25 yearlings at ABR were released for their second chance in the wild. This will be a long post, as we share photos of some of them, when they arrived and as they left. We’ll continue in the next couple of posts until we share all of the releases.
The first yearling to be worked up for his release was Cornelius Bear.
Cornelius arrived in January, weighing 18.1 pounds.
Here is a photo of him taken in the Wild Enclosure two months later.
Cornelius resting an a tree in the Wild Enclosure in March.
Cornelius Bear weighed 65 pounds at release!
His paws were measured.
His teeth were checked. Good and healthy.
Eyes were covered during workup. His neck was measured for the GPS collar.
Dr. Sullivan of the UT Vet school examined Cornelius.
The next yearling to be prepared for release was Clarence Bear. Here are a couple of earlier photos of Clarence.
Clarence Bear being checked at UT in February. He weighed 13 pounds.
He hid in the culvert den in his Acclimation Pen.
By March, he had grown and was looking like a healthy yearling.
Clarence on his way to the release workup or staging area.
Clarence was measured and weighed. He weighed 69 pounds.
Each bear has its temperature taken.
Each bear gets a lip tattoo with the same number as the ear tags.
Blood samples are analyzed. Results are printed out.
After his exam, Clarence Bear is ready to go.
Next up was Acorn Bear.
Acorn arrived at ABR in November. She hid in the top part of the Cub House.
She hid behind a tree in the Wild Enclosure.
By January she had grown bigger and wasn’t hiding as much.
Acorn had to go back to UT for surgery to repair a hernia.
Acorn on the way to the staging area.
Dr. Sullivan examined the surgical site. It had healed very well. She weighed 70 pounds.
Acorn was loaded into the truck that would take her to her release site.
Tucker was the next yearling to be readied for release.
Tucker Bear was trapped in November, weighing just 8 pounds.
Tucker Bear in the Cub Nursery.
Tucker bullied Shelby Bear in the Cub House.
Tucker in the Wild Enclosure in December.
By February, Tucker had grown much bigger!
Tucker on his way to the staging area.
Weighed and measured – Tucker weighed 65 pounds.
Tucker gets his lip tattoo.
Tucker’s teeth and mouth are healthy.
Into the truck. Tucker is ready to go.
We have shared the releases of four of the yearlings. In the next post we’ll share some more. We are glad that all of these little bears are healthy and ready to resume their lives in the wild.