Not every single bear story from the early years of the ABR resulted in a happy ending but many did. And then there are those that are truly remarkable...
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| "Blaze" |
Three years and 30-some bears into the ABR's existence, the bear center turned a major corner. Other than the neonatals, which came from North Carolina and were quickly fostered to natural mothers, all the rehabilitated and released cubs had come from Tennessee or from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. All that changed in the summer of 1999.
David Goad, the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission's (AFGC) bear biologist, gave me a surprise call in mid-July. Had it not been for the extenuating circumstances they encountered, it is highly likely the AFGC wouldn't have searched so vigorously for our assistance. Those circumstances were of course two orphan black bear cubs. The "extenuating" circumstances, on the other hand, were the means in which they were acquired.
As the story goes...a poacher in the western part of their state had killed a female black bear with two small cubs in tow. Upon the death of the mother, the poacher turned his attention to the cubs in hopes of capturing the pair. For what reason? One can only guess.
Like well-trained soldiers, the cubs heeded their instincts or quite possibly their mother's lessons and climbed the nearest tall tree. Not to be outsmarted by six-month old bears, the poacher did the unthinkable. He cut down the tree.
Miraculously, upon crashing to the ground, the male cub survived the calamity unscathed. His sister, however, wasn't so lucky. Though she survived, she sustained massive injuries including two compound fractures of both her femurs. She was immediately rendered incapacitated and literally was unable to crawl away.
How the AFGC came to capture this gentleman and acquire all this information, I do not know nor do I care. I am just happy they did so.
A few days later, having exhausted their in-state options, David got a hold of me and asked if we might be able to give them a hand.
Without hesitation I told him we would do everything within our power to help the cubs but unfortunately we had to clear numerous hurdles since this action required quick and seemless collaboration between two state wildlife agencies who had never encountered a request such as this before. Throw in an 10+ hour drive after all the paperwork was approved and you can see why the clock was ticking rather rapidly.
I am happy to say numerous individuals stepped to the plate from both states and did a phenomenal job getting this ball rolling so the cubs could come to the center for treatment. Having said that, it was still a full five days after the incident that we finally laid our hands on the Arkansas cubs.
They were immediately rushed to the Vet school at the University of Tennessee and placed under the care of Dr. Ramsay.
We waited with bated breath to hear the prognosis.
The male cub as expected was in perfect health. His sister was the one we were worried about.
The news was heartbreaking.
Each femur had suffered a complete fracture and the bones were displaced, literally laying side-by-side. Normally this would not have been a big deal since orthopedists could perform a quick surgery, insert a metal rod and re-align the broken bones.
It was the five-day lag that killed us.
Over the course of that time the cub's body tried in vain to heal itself. Because the two pieces of fractured femur were lying side-by-side, they began to repair itself and formed a callous formation making the procedure for "setting the leg" nearly impossible. In other words, it was a tangled mass of bone that created a situation too risky to be surgically repaired. And unfortunately this occurred in BOTH legs.
Dr. Ramsay broke the news to us. I could see it in his eyes and hear in his voice how upsetting this was to him as well. Other then her two broken legs the cub appeared to sustain no other injuries.
Because of her will to survive and incredible power to heal, he advised we take her back to the center, keep her confined, give her her meds, and "hope for the best".
In a few weeks he would re-examine her and make a decision as to what needed to be done.
With that we welcomed our first out-of-state cubs Timber (male) and Blaze (female).
David Goad, the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission's (AFGC) bear biologist, gave me a surprise call in mid-July. Had it not been for the extenuating circumstances they encountered, it is highly likely the AFGC wouldn't have searched so vigorously for our assistance. Those circumstances were of course two orphan black bear cubs. The "extenuating" circumstances, on the other hand, were the means in which they were acquired.
As the story goes...a poacher in the western part of their state had killed a female black bear with two small cubs in tow. Upon the death of the mother, the poacher turned his attention to the cubs in hopes of capturing the pair. For what reason? One can only guess.
Like well-trained soldiers, the cubs heeded their instincts or quite possibly their mother's lessons and climbed the nearest tall tree. Not to be outsmarted by six-month old bears, the poacher did the unthinkable. He cut down the tree.
Miraculously, upon crashing to the ground, the male cub survived the calamity unscathed. His sister, however, wasn't so lucky. Though she survived, she sustained massive injuries including two compound fractures of both her femurs. She was immediately rendered incapacitated and literally was unable to crawl away.
How the AFGC came to capture this gentleman and acquire all this information, I do not know nor do I care. I am just happy they did so.
A few days later, having exhausted their in-state options, David got a hold of me and asked if we might be able to give them a hand.
Without hesitation I told him we would do everything within our power to help the cubs but unfortunately we had to clear numerous hurdles since this action required quick and seemless collaboration between two state wildlife agencies who had never encountered a request such as this before. Throw in an 10+ hour drive after all the paperwork was approved and you can see why the clock was ticking rather rapidly.
I am happy to say numerous individuals stepped to the plate from both states and did a phenomenal job getting this ball rolling so the cubs could come to the center for treatment. Having said that, it was still a full five days after the incident that we finally laid our hands on the Arkansas cubs.
They were immediately rushed to the Vet school at the University of Tennessee and placed under the care of Dr. Ramsay.
We waited with bated breath to hear the prognosis.
The male cub as expected was in perfect health. His sister was the one we were worried about.
The news was heartbreaking.
Each femur had suffered a complete fracture and the bones were displaced, literally laying side-by-side. Normally this would not have been a big deal since orthopedists could perform a quick surgery, insert a metal rod and re-align the broken bones.
It was the five-day lag that killed us.
Over the course of that time the cub's body tried in vain to heal itself. Because the two pieces of fractured femur were lying side-by-side, they began to repair itself and formed a callous formation making the procedure for "setting the leg" nearly impossible. In other words, it was a tangled mass of bone that created a situation too risky to be surgically repaired. And unfortunately this occurred in BOTH legs.
Dr. Ramsay broke the news to us. I could see it in his eyes and hear in his voice how upsetting this was to him as well. Other then her two broken legs the cub appeared to sustain no other injuries.
Because of her will to survive and incredible power to heal, he advised we take her back to the center, keep her confined, give her her meds, and "hope for the best".
In a few weeks he would re-examine her and make a decision as to what needed to be done.
With that we welcomed our first out-of-state cubs Timber (male) and Blaze (female).
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The intention was to place Blaze in the one and only confinement cage the center had, a small 6x4x4 chain-link enclosure. Having never needed this equipment before we had to improvise, something the center would become quite adept at over their long and storied existence.
We placed the cage within the wild enclosure a short distance from the perimeter fence. We then rigged feeding tubes to reduce the human exposure as much as possible and still allow us to feed and administer medication to our recovering patient.
Upon returning from the vet school the cubs were placed in their temporary home. Timber was quite healthy and a perfect candidate for the large wild-enclosure, so he was placed in the enclosure nearby Blaze to hopefully provide comfort to his now-healing sister.
As one would expect they comforted each other.
A few days had gone by and all appeared well. Then the typical brother/sister scene unfolded. They wanted to kill each other!
Not literally...but as young siblings often do, they got into a heated argument, with both bears being extremely riled.
As most people know, mock fighting is quite common among young bears since it builds strength and develops muscle coordination. This behavior also develops bonds among young siblings. As much as I feared for Blaze to re-injure her legs in her excited state I couldn't help but notice…she was climbing and scampering about her cage with the greatest of ease!
About another week passed and both cubs were growing more and more rambunctious…they wanted to re-unite!
After consulting with Dr. Ramsay he said, "Have at it!". It appeared as if her body was going to repair her legs whether we liked it or not and that was completely fine by us!
The big day arrived when Blaze finished her meds and we would reunite the cubs in the wild enclosure.
It was joyously uneventful.
Don't get me wrong, it was a wonder to see Blaze run and climb trees with the same speed and vigor as her brother. In fact, had it not been for her decreased stature due to her crooked hind legs, the two cubs would've been identical.
Days turned into weeks, weeks turn into months and the cubs grew.
Two months after arriving at the center in extreme dire condition, Blaze and Timber almost tripled in size, growing from 15 pounds to just over 40 pounds. Their triumphant return home was arranged.
It was incredibly gratifying to see representatives from the AGFC amazed at the results we achieved. Not only had the bear center worked wonders for the cubs but the story that Arkansas could now tell was one that would win over the hearts of many.
And even more importantly, it solidified the ABR as a legitimate and valuable Southeastern resource and not just a Tennessee resource. We were on our way!
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| The make shift recovery room for Blaze. |
Upon returning from the vet school the cubs were placed in their temporary home. Timber was quite healthy and a perfect candidate for the large wild-enclosure, so he was placed in the enclosure nearby Blaze to hopefully provide comfort to his now-healing sister.
As one would expect they comforted each other.
A few days had gone by and all appeared well. Then the typical brother/sister scene unfolded. They wanted to kill each other!
Not literally...but as young siblings often do, they got into a heated argument, with both bears being extremely riled.
As most people know, mock fighting is quite common among young bears since it builds strength and develops muscle coordination. This behavior also develops bonds among young siblings. As much as I feared for Blaze to re-injure her legs in her excited state I couldn't help but notice…she was climbing and scampering about her cage with the greatest of ease!
About another week passed and both cubs were growing more and more rambunctious…they wanted to re-unite!
After consulting with Dr. Ramsay he said, "Have at it!". It appeared as if her body was going to repair her legs whether we liked it or not and that was completely fine by us!
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| Blaze taking timid steps on her healing legs before joining her sibling, Timber in the wild enclosure. |
It was joyously uneventful.
Don't get me wrong, it was a wonder to see Blaze run and climb trees with the same speed and vigor as her brother. In fact, had it not been for her decreased stature due to her crooked hind legs, the two cubs would've been identical.
Days turned into weeks, weeks turn into months and the cubs grew.
Two months after arriving at the center in extreme dire condition, Blaze and Timber almost tripled in size, growing from 15 pounds to just over 40 pounds. Their triumphant return home was arranged.
It was incredibly gratifying to see representatives from the AGFC amazed at the results we achieved. Not only had the bear center worked wonders for the cubs but the story that Arkansas could now tell was one that would win over the hearts of many.
And even more importantly, it solidified the ABR as a legitimate and valuable Southeastern resource and not just a Tennessee resource. We were on our way!
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| Timber anxiously awaiting the return of his sister. |
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| Blaze, a little crooked but as good as new! |
Thanks for your memories.
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thanks for your great stories about your time at ABR. I'm really enjoying them! :)
ReplyDelete:) thank you -love hearing the history and success of ABR
ReplyDeleteThis story paved the way for another out of state bear to be saved, even though not back to the the wild, as she had been habituated before she got to ABR.
ReplyDeleteHer name is now Holly Bear and she lives at the NABC in Ely MN. The enclosure she live sin is 2.5 acres of wild forest and she has companions as well. We who are Lily Fans love her as our littlest Ambassador at the NABC.
Thanks for the amazing story!
ReplyDeleteI live in North central Arkansas and I swear I saw a bear run across my neighbors yard and into the woods but people said I was nuts (well, they always say that) but then I was at the post office in the next town over and they said we do have bears. I was curious what part of Arkansas Timber and Blaze came from.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Northern, IL originally and when I was young (many moons ago) we had cougars/mountain lions but not any more. I'm going to follow you on FB and thank you for the happy ending story although like people....no one can replace Fergus....they are each unique and wonderful. I called Finnegan and Fergus my 2 little Irish bears! LOL! Thank you for sharing your story and for helping our fellow inhabitants. I think our country has their values messed up when it comes to pay scales for jobs.
Thank you for sharing their story. I hope they are still doing well out there. I can't help being curious how the poacher got found out etc.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful story! You write well. I volunteer in wildlife rehab out west. My bosses don't share stories as ABR does; they don't realize how these stories educate and motivate people to donate. Some wildlife officials are clueless; the whole thing can get political. For people to pull together is pretty wonderful. God bless!
ReplyDelete