Orphaned bear cub rescued from river on raft

After being plucked from the Nolichucky River near Erwin on Thursday, Noli Bear is on the road to recovery at the Appalachian Bear Rescue in Townsend, Tennessee. The five-month-old, 14-pound American black bear was rescued by rafting guides who had seen the cub struggling by the side of the river for several days. Matt Moses, who owns the USA Raft Company, said the bear was finally rescued and brought to his property by guide Danny Allen of High Mountain Expeditions. “We had seen this bear over the last four days, and there was no sight of a mama bear,” said Moses. “She was obviously malnourished and appeared to be in distress. My guides kept coming back to me and saying they had no idea what to do. We didn’t want to see this bear die on the side of the river.”

Moses said the bear, who was named after the river it was rescued from, became more comfortable with human contact each day. “It would walk toward us at first. Then it swam out toward one of our rafts. Thursday, a guy from another rafting company (Allen) pulled over and she got right in.” Moses said he has never seen a bear react that way. “We see bear fairly often, but we’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a bear getting in a raft.” The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was called and the bear was transported to the ABR, a black bear rehabilitation facility that has returned orphaned, injured or medically in-need bears to the wild since 1996. According to Dana Dodd, board president of the ABR, Noli Bear is on the mend. “She’s up, walking and feeding,” said Dodd.

“She likes grapes and apple sauce. Those things are great for her because they’re filled with water.” Dodd said ABR took the bear to the University of Tennessee Veterinary School after it was dropped off by TWRA. “She was very dehydrated, and the doctors gave her fluids,” said Dodd. “She will have to stay in the acclimatization area until we can’t see any more of her neurological conditions, like dehydration and possibly heat stroke.” Dodd said the next step is to get Noli Bear healthy enough to be put in an area that houses four other cubs at the facility. “It may be a week or so,” said Dodd. “We have to be sure she is hearing, seeing and climbing well.” Noli Bear will have to grow to about 50 pounds before she can be released into the wild, sometime between August and the end of the year, according to Dodd. She said TWRA will decide where the bears will be released, but it is usually in proximity to where they were found.
“They do that because most of the bears try and make it back to where they came from,” said Dodd. She said information is sketchy on how cubs do on their own after reintroduction. Cubs typically stay with their mother until they are 16 months. “Studies have shown that at six months, especially in warmer climates like the southeast, and if food like acorns are plentiful, these cubs would be viable.” Dodd said that even cubs with their mothers for the full first 16 months face a difficult road. “Fifty percent of all cubs do not make it to their first birthday, and 25 percent of those that survive don’t make it to their second birthday,” she said. While Noli Bear’s rescuers no doubt had the best of intentions, Dodd said you should never approach an animal in the wild. “If you see wildlife in trouble, you should immediately call TWRA. You should never intervene on your own. It’s dangerous for you and the animal.”
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