Our Bears - Chester

Rick Varner, an officer for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, transported Chester and Camper to ABC on July 9, 2004. The two yearlings were far underweight, weighing 30 pounds and 27 pounds, respectively. Chester was not only small for his age, he had also suffered a broken rear femur and had puncture wounds on his front paws.

Camper had no injuries, he only needed some good nutrition and ample recovery time. Chester, however, needed specialized attention. Park wildlife biologist, Kim Delozier, said the male bear was probably recently weaned from its mother, nearly 30 pounds underweight and hardly able to move around...Park officials said they were not sure how Chester was injured, but they believe the mother may have pushed him too while weaning him from her.

University of Tennessee veterinarians performed surgery on Chester to repair his leg before he was transported to ABC. He arrived looking like a shadow with 1/3 of his body shaved from surgery. He was put in confinement to recover and stayed there for 6 weeks. Once he began the rehab process, he seemed to progress well and was introduced to another bear in late August.

However, as a planned release date approached, UT veterinarians found Chester's leg had not completely healed. Another surgery was performed on a much larger Chester.

By this time, Chester weighed approximately 150 pounds! After the successful surgery, Chester returned to confinement at ABC to give his leg every opportunity to heal properly. Chester's pen mate, Ivy, kept close tabs on him while in confinement. She vocalized with Chester frequently and he watched her constantly. Chester recovered from his second surgery remarkably.

After Ivy was released on December 20th, Chester's confined days ended and he darted out to enjoy the familiar trees and dens he had previously inhabited.

There was no limp in his gait and he ran happily throughout the enclosure. Chester was ABC's only resident for the winter of 2005 and spent his days making large pine needle dens and resting in solitude.

Finally, on Monday, April 4, 2005, Chester (weighing 189 pounds) returned home to the Great Smoky Mountains after a final checkup by UT Veterinarians. Chester was released not far from where he had been rescued some 9 months earlier.

Press coverage for the release can be found on our News page. The photograph of Chester at his Release is courtesy of Phil Snow, UT College of Veterinary Medicine). Many thanks to the veterinarians and officers who have closely monitored and cared for Chester!