Last month, sensational images showed a group of people casually plucking two wild bear cubs from a tree to take a photo with. Today there is good and bad news. The bad news: unfortunately, one of the cubs could not be reunited with her mother after the incident. The orphaned bear is now in a shelter. The good news: the bear is doing very well there, and she has got a friend there. The hope is that both bear cubs can be released back into the wild in the fall.
LOOK. Young people remove bear cubs from trees to take selfies with them:
The images went around the world: on April 16, some people saw wild bear cubs sitting in a tree near a fence near an apartment complex in Asheville, North Carolina. The group decided to use the moment for a hallucinatory photo opportunity: they plucked two young cubs from the tree as if they were care bears. They had their picture taken with it laughing.
Weak, scared and stressed
Other people called the police, and officers and employees of the North Carolina Resources Wildlife Commission rushed to the scene. Employees found one more bear. The area was searched, but the second bear was not found anywhere. The hope is that the cub has been able to reunite with the mother, because it would not be able to survive on its own at this young age.
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For the other bear, the unwanted introduction to humans almost ended fatally, reports ‘CBS News’. The cub had been left on the wrong side of the fence and had fallen into a retention pond on the grounds of the apartment complex. The bear, a female animal, barely moved or reacted, was limping and had a low body temperature. It also turned out to be no longer possible to reunite it with the mother.
The animal was taken to a specialized shelter, weak, scared and stressed, where committed employees immediately gave it the best care. And that is noticeable today, three weeks after the incident. In the meantime, the bear is on top of it, leave the shelter Appalachian Wildlife Refuge know. It lives with another orphaned bear cub. The shelter does not know under what circumstances the second bear, a boy, lost his mother.
Keep it wild
At least now the two little ones have each other. They live at the sanctuary in large, isolated, natural habitats. There is as little human contact as possible and the staff goes to great lengths to ensure that the bears have to forage for the food provided for them every day. In other words: everything to keep the bears as wild as possible during their rehabilitation.
Release in the fall
“After a while of getting used to the shelter, we introduced her to another cub who had ended up with us a little earlier,” says Savannah Trantham, director of Appalachian Wildlife Refuge. “Both bear cubs are doing very well.” The team is hopeful that the two bears can be released back into the wild in the fall. Cubs are more commonly released in early autumn, due to the good availability of natural autumn foods at that time, such as acorns, fruits and berries.
No prosecution
The “idiots” who disturbed the bear cubs last month received a stern scolding from police and animal rights activists that day. Because they released the cubs after the incident, they have escaped further prosecution.
“This story has understandably led to a lot of frustration, sadness and anger,” Trantham added. She emphasizes the importance of leaving wild animals alone. Once again it has ended with a little bear that has to grow up without a mother. And without help it was the end of the story for this animal. And what about the other bear that was no longer found?
Respect
Finally, Trantham explains that it is not unusual or alarming for baby animals to be in a different place from their mother during the spring and summer. “Many mothers in the wild temporarily leave their offspring in what they consider safe places while they look for food. They come back when it is time to feed or move their young.”
The director added: “We encourage everyone to take this incident seriously and treat all wildlife with the respect they deserve.”
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Tags: idiots pulled bears trees selfies bear cub reunited mother shelter Animals
