APPALACHIAN BEAR RESCUE THANKS OUR DONORS!
Aslan Foundation
Trushel Living Trust
and
Many Generous Individual Donors
Without your support, we could not offer world-class medical care to all ABR bears.
Your support proved especially critical in 2023, helping us save lives and give bears a second chance.
Appalachian Bear Rescue
A black bear care facility
ABR Update #2-April 22, 2024-Tots Doing Well 🐻
Tots Bear has returned from UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, where she underwent surgery to repair a broken left humerus (the bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow). Surgery on any bear is risky; we never know how they will respond to anesthesia. With a cub as young as Tots, the risks are higher. We're very happy to report that she did well during and after surgery and will be residing in The Cub Nursery while she recuperates. Tots came home with prescriptions for pain medication and antibiotics. She'll be taking the latter for the next ten days. She's on restricted movement for the next few weeks, which precludes any meeting with Peeps Bear, who is a rambunctious, pugilistic lass.🐻🥊
We're cautiously optimistic about Tots' prognosis; what worked against her in surgery (her size and youth) works in her favor now: bears this young heal quickly, and they don't carry much weight to stress their bones.
We’ve run out of superlatives to describe the good people at UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Our thanks to the surgery team: Dr. Ferrigno (lead surgeon), Dr. Bevelock (resident), Dr. Waligora, Kendall (zoo intern), Megan (zoo student)
Anesthesia: Dr. Sheldon (zoo), Dr. Pisack (anesthesia resident), Miriam (zoo student), and Monica Lee (anesthesia student).
They are always ready to help a bear cub in need. ❤️
We’ll post a regular update tomorrow. ... See MoreSee Less
113 CommentsComment on Facebook
Awesome news. Thank you. Big thanks to the vets and staff at UTCVM. 💖
Thanks to the entire team for caring for our Tots Bear! One question, am I understanding correctly that Tots will have the plate in for the rest of her life?
Very good update on Tots, so relieved she is doing so well and is back at ABR. Her hardest part will be confinement while she heals, I’m sure the curators have great ideas on how to enrich her boredom while recovering and healing from surgery. Be well Tots, eat, sleep and mind your manners. 😉♥️🐻♥️
View more comments
ABR Daily Update-April 22, 2024-Birthday/ Earth Day 🌎🎂
Weather: 55F (13C) Humidity 39%, Sunny 🌞
ABR chose January 22nd as the “official” birthdate for all bears who come to our facility. It falls roughly midway in the range of possible birthdates: January to mid-February. Today, Peeps, Tots, Daisy Mae, Duke, Jellybean, Casper, and Shadow are three months old. It’s also Earth Day; we take this opportunity to acknowledge that we all share the same planet, the same home. What affects one, affects all.
Our most recent arrival, Tots Bear, is scheduled to have surgery later today to repair a broken left humerus (the bone that runs from shoulder to elbow). Surgery is always a serious business, but it’s especially so for a little bear cub. We’re grateful to UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine; we’re confident that Tots is receiving the best care possible from the best doctors anywhere. We will inform you of her condition late this afternoon or early this evening.
At present, our cubs are making their home with us at the Appalachian Bear Rescue facility. With your help, they’ll return to their real home in the wild as soon as they’re big enough to get a second chance, probably at the end of this year. 🐻
❤️Please consider donating to Appalachian Bear Rescue:
appalachianbearrescue.org/make-a-donation/
🎉Our Visitor & Education Center at Trillium Cove is open! Please click on the link for more information:
appalachianbearrescue.org/contact-us/
🛑Bearwise.org offers excellent information on what black bears are up to at this time of year and what to do if you hike or live in “Bear Country”.
*We post one update daily, seven days a week. ... See MoreSee Less
53 CommentsComment on Facebook
Loving & laughing at every photo, comment & cub. Thank you, ABR, for your compassion & dedication.
Prayers for Tots Bear ❤ Happy Birthday to all the cubbies that are residents. Happy Birthday to all the former resident bears. I hope you are living your best life in the wild.❤🐻❤
Prayers for Tots bear! ❤️🐻❤️ I look forward to watching all of them thrive and grow under your excellent care. Thank you for sharing them with us.
View more comments
ABR Daily Update-April 21, 2024- Hooligans!🐻
Weather: 49F (9c) Humidity 69%, Partly Cloudy 🌤️
Thank you for your generous welcome of our newest resident, Tots Bear. Tots, a female cub, almost three months old, is resting in The Cub Nursery, awaiting surgery tomorrow to repair a broken left humerus (the bone that runs from shoulder to elbow). Though four of her baby teeth had to be extracted, and she’s on pain management medications and antibiotics, Tots has been lapping goat’s milk and Pedyalite from bowls fixed to her cage. Her plumbing is working well, and she’s spending most of her time sleeping.
A few of our friends asked how we came up with her name; Peeps reminded our Executive Director, Dana Dodd, of Doodlebug, a cub who also came from Kentucky. Doodle made a friend at ABR named Tater who came from the same area as Tots. Hence, “Tater Tots”. We hope Peeps and Tots will become good friends, like Doodle and Tater were during their stay at ABR.
Duke, Daisy Mae, and Jellybean have much in common with brothers Shadow and Casper who live next door: all five cubs have nothing but contempt for ABR property, are madly reckless, and generally just nuts with bouncy energy. It’s a true scientific fact that bear cubs and human toddlers will find the most dangerous thing in a room, and if there isn’t one, they will build it. To fuel their manic chaos, the cubs are eating a lot of Cubby Porridge (now with added berries) and drinking lots of water mixed with a little Pedyalite. We’re very glad the hooligans are still within the safe confines of Hartley House; they can exercise their right to challenge gravity close to the ground where it can’t hurt too much if they lose. 🐻💣
❤️ Please consider donating to Appalachian Bear Rescue:
appalachianbearrescue.org/make-a-donation/
🎉Our Visitor & Education Center at Trillium Cove is open! Please click on the link for more information:
appalachianbearrescue.org/contact-us/
🛑Bearwise.org offers excellent information on what black bears are up to at this time of year and what to do if you hike or live in “Bear Country”.
*We post one update daily, seven days a week. ... See MoreSee Less
56 CommentsComment on Facebook
LOVE the Doodle and Tater tribute for Peeps and Tots! Tater really was heaven sent for Doodlebug.
So glad Tots is drinking well and wish me a successful surgery tomorrow. He is in my prayers. All the other monsters Crack me up!!! I need to laugh. My good friend just diagnosed with breast cancer.
View more comments
April 21, 2024: Keep Cubs In Your Heart
Thank you for all you do to give our orphaned and injured cubs a second chance at life back in the wild. We sincerely appreciate every "like" and "share", every donation, every membership, all who participate in ABR events, and everyone who shows support with purchases in our online and Visitor Center store. We feel your love and support every single day!
Here are a few special opportunities to support our cubs today:
THE 2024 MAMA BEAR TEE
These will go quickly! Get your order in TODAY! The artwork features the adorable paw prints of our 2024 cubbies. They are Comfort Colors brand and are available in "Crunchberry" and "Emerald". These shirts are on the printing presses now and will ship in about a week. If you order additional items with these shirts, we will ship everything together when the shirts are here.
appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/2024-mama-bear-tee
Sign Up TODAY for the 2024 BEAR FORCE WALK
There's no force stronger than The Bear Force...and our cubs need YOU! Sign up today and join us in Townsend on June 1st (National Black Bear Day) at 10:00 a.m.to walk for your favorite little black bears. If you can't make it to Townsend, show your support from your hometown and send us a photo for the event video.
appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/2024-bearly-5k-participant-sign-up
ADOPT Your Favorite Cub TODAY!
OK...how can you have a favorite when all the cubs are adorable?? Every 2024 cub is available for adoption. We added little Tots Bear to the list just yesterday. Our ABR Curators will take Tots Bear to UTCVM for surgery to repair her broken arm tomorrow. Please keep Tots Bear and all of our cubs in your heart!
appalachian-bear-rescue.myshopify.com/products/christmas-in-july-adopt-a-cub-special
Thank you for your support! YOU give our little bears a second chance at life in the wild. We couldn't do our work without YOU!
appalachianbearrescue.org/make-a-donation/ ... See MoreSee Less
26 CommentsComment on Facebook
I mailed a money order to you, 2 weeks ago just wanted to know if you received it, tried emailing you, your box is full, I'm only in Maryville,
Has anyone found an accurate size chart for the Mama Bear shirt?
View more comments
🚨ABR Newsflash🚨-April 20, 2024-Rescued Bear #400 Arrives 🐻
Weather: 55 F( 13C) Humidity 100%, Rain ☔️
Late yesterday afternoon, we received a call regarding a cub in the Big South Fork area of Tennessee. It was on a trail, crying, not moving, and with no mother bear in sight. The cub appeared to be injured.
The Park Service took the cub to UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for examination, where the ABR curator rendezvoused with them. The bear is a female, almost three months old, and weighs 5.42 pounds (2.46 kg). She has a broken left humerus (the bone that runs from shoulder to elbow). The left side of her mouth was also injured, requiring the removal of four of her baby teeth. Following the examination, the cub was released back to ABR, where she is resting in the Cub Nursery until Monday when she’ll return to UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for surgery to repair the broken humerus bone. Please welcome Rescued Bear #400, Tots Bear.
We don’t know what happened to Tots, but she may have been attacked by an animal (all her injuries are confined to her left side) or she may have fallen from a tree. Dr. Swanepole said the break in her humerus is in the middle of the bone, and not in a growth plate. The fracture was a clean one and should heal well. Her adult teeth should also come in normally. At present, Tots is on pain management medications and antibiotics and is quite groggy. However, during the night and early this morning, she lapped some 20% strength goat’s milk and Pedialyte from a bowl, a good sign.🐻🤞
Our thanks to the National Park Service Wildlife Team at Big South Fork and Dr. Swanepole and her team at UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.
The other six cubs in residence are doing well and we’ll focus on them in tomorrow’s post. Thank you for helping us help them. 🐻❤️
*We post one update daily, seven days a week. ... See MoreSee Less
328 CommentsComment on Facebook
gosh I am so thankful Tots bear was found by some kind and caring humans and brought to safety. I will be thrilled to watch her progress. Thank you!. PS I saw a news story about a bear cub plucked from tree and being mishandled by bad humans. I thought it said it was brought to you but I havent seen any posts yet. It made me so angry , poor cub. Thank you for all you do!
I saw this morning that some stupid people took 3 cubs from a tree in North Carolina so they could take selfies. 😡 Two of the cubs ran off but rangers had to rescue the third one. They apparently took the little cub to a rehab facility. Was that ABR? Too bad the mother bear didn’t return when this was happening.
View more comments
ABR Daily Update - April 19, 2024
We apologize for all of the trouble today -- Facebook will not connect to our Live streaming platform.🧐 We hope that this is a minor hiccup that can be fixed before next week's Live. We hope you still enjoy this video of the current residents in our care. All six cubs are doing wonderfully!! Thank you for giving them a second chance. ❤ ... See MoreSee Less
67 CommentsComment on Facebook
Appalachian Bear Rescue do you have the cub that the people plucked out of the tree and dropped? Just curious how it's doing since the idiots are getting all of the attention 😡 Hopefully they will be taken care of through the legal system, but nobody has given updates on the cub???
Peeps is working on those climbing skills. Good girl.
LOVE watching the videos of the current residents, but I have a question. Does ABR have the capacity to take more bears if the need becomes necessary?
View more comments
We will post a Facebook Live update later today. We apologize for the delay! ... See MoreSee Less
8 CommentsComment on Facebook
I hope they throw every charge at them that they can! 🤬🤬🤬
This makes me furious to see pure idiots traumatizing these cubs. 🤬
i was wondering if they were getting that baby
View more comments
ABR Daily Update-April 18,2024-A Short Panic 😳🐻😱
Weather: 82°F (28°C) Humidity 48%, Sunny 🌞
Daisy Mae, Duke, and Jellybean Bear have moved outside!! Well, kind of. 🤷🏻♀️ 🤔
Curators have been working hard to deep clean the Acclimation Pen that connects Wild Enclosure 1 to the Hartley House. The pen was power washed and “cubbified” with new, cub-sized firehose bumpers fastened to the wooden platforms. Duke Bear was the first to approach the opened gate, followed by Jellybean. All three of the cubs have spent the majority of their day today exploring and enjoying their new outdoor-ish enclosure.
Access to the Acclimation Pen has also freed up more space for Casper and Shadow Bear in the Hartley House. The brothers now can shift freely between rooms 1 and 2, while the trio has free range of room 3 and the Acclimation Pen.
While all of the other ursine residents were moving around, Peeps took the liberty to move around herself. A short panic ensued when Curators could not spot Peeps Bear on the cameras. After countless sweeps with the PTZ camera, and just as Curator Katrina started the trek uphill to get eyes on her in-person, Peeps was finally found. 😮💨 Can you see her?
This time of year never fails to keep everyone on their toes. Thank you for your support in our mission to give cubs like them a second chance. ❤️
*We post one update daily, seven days a week. ... See MoreSee Less
43 CommentsComment on Facebook
When I read “a short panic” my immediate thought was that Twinkle and Tinsel finally climbed that tree and making their escape. Then I remembered they were already released to the wild. I hope they are doing well.
Baby bears=grey hairs! 🐻+❤️=👵🏻Glad little Miss Peeps is ok!!
I love your posts and look forward to them every day. Glad Peeps was found and that they are all doing well.
View more comments
🐻 ... See MoreSee Less
67 CommentsComment on Facebook
How do you come up with names?
Will all six be in the same enclosure once they go out to outside
Hello all
View more comments