On March 7, a landowner in Madison saw a small bear in his cow pasture – and realized that the bear was being attacked by cows. He intervened, and was able to safely contain the injured bear. The bear was transported to the Wildlife Center later that evening.
Dr. Kristin Britton, the Center’s veterinary intern, examined the bear when it arrived. The small yearling was quiet, very thin, dehydrated, and filthy. Dr. Kristin discovered a very large contaminated wound on the bear’s left side; the skin “degloving” [tearing of the skin] extended from the bear’s chest to its hind limb. Dr. Kristin also noted that the bear had a significant congenital deformity – the yearling’s lower jaw protruded quite significantly, giving the bear an underbite.
The veterinary team carefully cleaned the bear’s wound and packed it with sponges soaked in saline. This “wet to dry” bandage will continue to clean and debride the wound; the area remained too contaminated to be sutured closed safely. Several days of flushing and cleaning the wound will be necessary before the veterinary team can attempt to close the large wound.
The female bear’s condition is guarded to poor, due to the significant degloving wound. The bear was offered a highly digestible diet to slowly reintroduce food into her digestive system. The bear has been eating well over the past two days, despite her underbite. She currently weighs 8.13 kg.