On January 15, Yona made the journey to her new home in the bear habitat at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science  in Durham.  She is joining another ABR bear, Mimi, that was unreleasable a few years ago.  

The mission of ABR is to rehabilitate and release bear cubs back into the wild, which we do following the rules and regulations of TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency).  These rules require that there be no human contact, to prevent the release of potential nuisance bears.  In the case of Yona and Mimi, human interference at a very early age before they came to ABR, and in Yona’s case the special handling required when she first arrived at ABR prevented them from having the necessary wild behavior to survive in the wild.  We are very happy that Yona has found a permanent home in North Carolina.

Yona as she looks today.