PATIENTS:  Black Bear, #11-2532

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  Suffolk, Virginia

CIRCUMSTANCE OF ADMISSION:   Orphaned

ADMISSION DATE:  October 18, 2011

OUTCOME:  Released December 13, 2011

Two bear cubs were rescued on Monday, October 17, after their mother was struck and killed by a vehicle in Suffolk, Virginia.  Officials from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries responded to the scene and were able to tranquilize the orphaned cubs after they climbed up two trees in the median of Route 58.  While one cub began climbing down the tree after it was tranquilized, the other climbed higher and had to be pried out.  That cub ended up falling about 40 feet to the ground.

The cubs arrived at the Wildlife Center around 9:15 a.m. on October 18.  

The bears arrive:

Examination photos of #11-2531:

Bear cub #11-2531 was the “sleepier” of the two male cubs — still very much feeling the effects of the tranquilizers from yesterday’s rescue.  The veterinary team was able to manually capture cub #11-2531, which did make him perk back up and resist capture.  The bear was then anesthetized and intubated for further exam.  Vets performed a physical examination, drew blood for several different types of diagnostic tests, performed a skin scraping to check for mites, and took radiographs.

While #11-2531 is a little thin and dehydrated, otherwise the cub seems to be healthy.  Dr. Miranda Sadar gave the cub intravenous fluids in hopes that some of the additional fluids would help flush yesterday’s tranquilizers from its system.  Center vet and rehab staff will monitor the cub closely today.  Bear #11-2531 weighed in at 9.48 kgs — almost 21 pounds.   

Bear cub #11-2532 is the perkier of the two cubs — despite a 40-foot tumble from a tree during Monday’s rescue.  The veterinary team sedated this cub prior to grabbing it for the physical exam.  The same blood draws, skin scraping, and radiographs were performed; fluids were also given.   This cub is slightly bigger than his brother and at 10.60 kgs (23.3 lbs), is in slightly better body condition. 

Dr. Miranda carefully poked and prodded the bear’s abdomen, as there was some concern yesterday about possible injury resulting from the darting.  Rather than hitting muscle, the dart hit the bear’s abdomen.  The cub thus far appears to be just fine.  While the blood work revealed that the bear is hypoglycemic, the veterinarians don’t believe this is cause for concern at the moment.  They provided a dose of glucose to increase the bear’s blood sugar.  The cub will be carefully monitored by the vet staff over the next 24 hours.

Examination photos of #11-2532:

The veterinary and rehabilitation team will be closely monitoring the cubs in the days ahead.  Both the DGIF biologists and the Wildlife Center staff would prefer to fatten up the cubs prior to releasing, since they are small for their age.  The staff will be monitoring how much the cubs eat over the comings weeks and will be weighing them regularly. 

The bear cubs will be settled in the Center’s bear pen later today.

October 19 update

When Dr. Miranda and wildlife rehabilitator Suzy checked on the cubs this morning, they found one bear cub in the main chamber of the bear pen and the other sleeping in the den.  Both cubs appear to be doing just fine and most of yesterday’s meal was gone. 

October 20 update

On Thursday, Center wildlife rehabilitators found Bear Cub #11-2531 dead in the bear enclosure.  This is the smaller, quieter of the two cubs admitted after the sow was killed in Suffolk on Monday.

At this point, the veterinary team does not know why cub #11-2531 died.  The Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia will perform a necropsy on the cub.  It will likely take several weeks to receive results.

Bear cub #11-2532 will be monitored closely over the next few days.  At this point, the veterinary staff have scheduled him for a weigh-in on Monday, October 31.

October 25 update

Wildlife rehabilitator Suzy Doell reports that the Bear cub #11-2532 has been eating quite well since his arrival one week ago.  On Monday, October 24, the bear cub received a special treat — a whole pumpkin!  While the bear may rip into the pumpkin and eat some of it, the main objective of this addition was to provide some enrichment for the cub.  It appears as though the bear has been rolling the pumpkin around his enclosure since receiving it yesterday.   

October 28 update

Critter Cam viewers who are able to join our weekday sneak peeks of “Critter Cam 2:  Bear Cam” may catch some of the daily food drops that occur each morning.  So what’s in that pile of food? 

There are slight variations each day, depending what’s in the rehab kitchen – but one sample menu from this week from chef Suzy included:

Birdseed – 2 cups
Apples – 3
Acorns – 3 handfuls
Dog food – 5 cups
Suet – 1 packet, chopped
Broccoli – 1 head, chopped finely [so he has to eat his veggies!]
Carrots – 1 bag
Mixed nuts – a couple handfuls
Blackberries and strawberries – 2 packages

All of this food weighs approximately 5 lbs and it’s delivered mid-morning via feeding chute into the bear pen – so the staff never need to open doors and interact with the bear.

The Black Bear also received a whole pumpkin on Monday, October 24 as a fun enrichment item – as Critter Cam viewers can see, he has already destroyed the pumpkin and moves it around the enclosure daily.  Other enrichment items will include apples stuffed with bird seed and suet.  These items will be added intermittently – they’re too big to fit through the feeding chute, so the staff will have to open the enclosure to slide the items inside.

On Thursday, October 27, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries received official necropsy results on bear cub #11-2531. 

VDGIF’s statement on necropsy results:

According to the necropsy report from SCWDS, the male bear cub died as a result of a perforated small intestine.  Any time an animal is tranquilized, there is the potential for injury or death during the immobilizing or recovery periods or due to the drugs themselves.  In this case, with cubs in a tree in the median of a 4-lane highway during rush hour, darting was deemed the most appropriate method of immobilization in order to remove the animals from that situation.  After immobilization, both cubs were transferred to the Wildlife Center of Virginia and thoroughly examined by their staff of veterinarians.  Radiographs and blood work were completed, and the cubs were closely monitored in the pen via closed-circuit television.

Unfortunately, one of the cubs died sometime during the night.  While the Wildlife Center of Virginia will continue to work towards the ultimate release of the remaining cub, the death of the second cub reminds us that despite our best efforts at immobilization, treatment, and rehabilitation, there are a multitude of variables that must be dealt with when working with wildlife and some are insurmountable.

November 1 update

Wildlife rehabilitator Suzy and Dr. Miranda went up to the bear enclosure on November 1 for a weigh-in session and cleaning. The plan was for Suzy to scare the bear out of the den area and into a pre-weighed crate.  That plan did not go so well … rather than being frightened into running away from the humans, the bear cub stood his ground — literally.  Suzy poked her head into the bear den and Black Bear cub #11-2532 stood up on his hind legs and took a swipe at Suzy — so she promptly backed off.

Plan B is to watch and wait — if the bear ventures out of the den, one of the staff will run up to the enclosure and will lock him out of his den by shutting the guillotine door from the outside.  This will greatly increase the chances of the bear running into the crate.  If that doesn’t work … well, the bear looks good!  He has been eating well and appears to be plumper than he was two weeks ago.   The next examination will be in two weeks — and that exam will require sedation.

November 4 update

The rehabiltation staff spotted bear cub #11-2532 in the main part of his enclosure this morning via webcam — so rehabilitator Suzy ran outside to lock the cub outside of his den by lowering the guillotine door.  Once stuck in the main part of the enclosure, the staff managed to corral the angry cub into the large crate that was left in the bear pen earlier this week.  Dr. Miranda reports that the cub weighed in at 15.4 kgs — about 34 lbs.  This means that the cub gained 11 pounds in two weeks. 

The staff will be consulting with the state bear biologist to determine a plan – Dr. Miranda does not intend to interact with the cub again without sedating him first!

Critter Cam viewers may see a gray, round ball in the bear’s enclosure — this a “boomer ball” — a very strong ball that the bear can play with.

November 11 update

After the November 4 weigh-in, the Wildlife Center veterinary staff consulted with the VDGIF bear biologist to come up with a plan.  DGIF officials would like to see the bear be at least 60 pounds prior to release — a goal that the bear will likely hit in December if he continues gaining weight at the same rate! 

Since the staff feel uncomfortable weighing the bear without it first being sedated, the weigh-in sessions will not occur frequently.  At this point, the staff plan on knocking the bear cub down during the first full week of December to take follow-up blood samples and obtain a current weight.  That will give everyone a better idea on an appropriate release date for the bear. 

In the meantime, the bear continues to eat large amounts of food each day — some of which has been donated especially for him!  Farmington Elementary School students in Culpeper have been taking up a collection of food for the bear.  Students have sent several boxes of food for the bear cub, including eggs, gourds, and pumpkins.

November 30 update

Dr. Miranda tentatively scheduled a weigh-in for Black Bear cub #11-2532 on December 6.  Dr. Miranda and Dr. Adam plan on darting the bear cub to sedate it sometime on December 6.  Sedating the cub will enable the vet staff to safely obtain an accurate weight.  They will also draw a blood sample for routine blood work.  After the staff have an idea of what the current weight is, they will consult with the DGIF bear biologist to determine what the next step is.

December 5 update

Since the bear is scheduled for sedation tomorrow, he will be fasted today.  That means that not only will his daily food drop not occur, but the rehabilitation staff will also close the bear in his den this afternoon.  This way, the cub won’t be able to find any leftovers from yesterday’s meal. 

December 6 update

The veterinary team began the sedation of Black Bear cub #11-2532 this morning at 9:30 a.m.   Dr. Miranda was able to get a clear shot at the bear through the grate-roof of the den and used a pole syringe [pictured below] to inject the sedative into the bear’s upper thigh.  The team waited about 20 minutes for the drugs to take effect … and then kept on waiting.  After a few more checks, the bear still appeared to be fairly alert — so Dr. Miranda gave a second dose of the sedative.  Finally, after two doses and about an hour of waiting, the bear appeared to be sleepy – although not entirely knocked out.  Not wanting to risk an overdose, Dr. Miranda quickly changed plans and made the goal of today’s exam just to get the bear safely into a crate for a weight. 

Dr. Miranda and Dr. Adam were able to crawl into the bear’s den with a large crate — and quickly shuffled the bear into it.  With all the action, the bear “came to” — and quickly turned and charged the closed crate door.  Needless to say, all blood work and physical exam plans were promptly postponed!

Fortunately, the cub’s weight was the most crucial piece of information … and the bear cub weighed in at 28.3 kgs, or 62.3 lbs.  The team will be contacting the state bear biologist with this information to plan on how to proceed with the release of the cub.

Dr. Miranda decided that no reversal medication was needed to “wake up” the bear — he was alert enough already.  The team left the cub in a crate in the newly cleaned bear pen, and the bear was spotted emerging from the crate (via cam) at about 12:10 p.m.

Pole syringe:

Checking on the bear in the den:

Dr. Miranda and Dr. Adam wait for the bear to get sleepy:

December 8 update

After updating DGIF biologists with the bear cub’s latest weight, a departure date has been set:  Tuesday, December 13.  A DGIF official will pick up the bear from the Wildlife Center late in the afternoon on December 13, and will transport the cub back to an appropriate release spot in the Suffolk area.  The cub will likely be released the following day. 

December 13 update

Bear cub #11-2532 was shut in his den on the morning of December 13, to ensure that he would not eat in the hours before his sedation.  At about 3:00 p.m., Dr. Miranda and team ventured up the hill to sedate the cub — this time, they calculated a dose for a 65 lb bear! 

Things went smoothly and within about 20 minutes, the bear was asleep.  Dr. Miranda and rehabilitator Suzy pulled the bear out of the den for a quick examination and a blood draw.  At some point during the examination, the cub opened his eyes — but remained still. Dr. Miranda decided a final weight wasn’t really all that important after all.  The team quickly loaded the bear into a DGIF biologist’s culvert trap — a very sturdy and safe way to transport bears.  Dr. Miranda quickly injected a medication for reversing the sedation.

The cub will be released in a very rural area in southeast Virginia.  The bear will  have a very minimal chance of crossing any major roads or coming across any people.

December 14 update

The DGIF bear biologist reports that the bear release on the evening of December 13 went well — and the bear was “last seen merrily heading east into a big stand of oaks.”

Check out some “Bear Facts” from DGIF.

Frequently Asked Questions about Black Bear cubs.

Bears in the news:

The Virginian-Pilot, October 18, 2011 

Suffolk News-Herald, October 17, 2011

WVEC, October 17, 2011 

WTKR, October 17, 2011

WVEC, November 7, 2011

Culpeper Star-Exponent, November 15, 2011

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