ABR History

The fall of 1989 was hard on the black bears of the Smokies. A severe nut and seed shortage had driven them into lower elevations to look for food. The resulting
bear/human conflicts left an unusually large number of orphaned cubs.

A group of dedicated volunteers decided to form Appalachian Black Bear &
Release Center Inc. to help the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park care for the orphaned cubs of the
Smokies. Appalachian Bear Rescue was "born" on July 31, 1990, when these
volunteers obtained a corporate charter, formed a board of directors and
obtained tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service in February of
1991.

Known then as the Appalachian Bear Center, the early years were devoted to
raising money, locating land and building a fenced area to care for the
bears. Volunteers dug deep trenches so the fences could be sunk
several feet into the ground to prevent the bears from digging their way to
freedom. In 1995-1996 dollars, the fence cost about $35,000.

Our first bear, "Zero", arrived on July 8, 1996, and was released on
September 20, 1996. Our first full-time curator, Daryl Ratajczak, started
June 9, 1997, and promptly began caring for three yearling bears. By 1999,
word of ABR's success led other states to ask for its help. Since then,
Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and South
Carolina have all asked ABR to help care for their severely malnourished
cubs. Our current curator, Lisa Stewart, was hired in April 2003, beginning work a few days earlier than planned to help care for a bear named "Lucky." Since then, ABR has continuously cared for at least one bear or cub, although there are usually many more. To date, ABR has assisted more than 80 bears by returning them to the wild.