An orphaned baby black bear was rescued after being found in a tree by a park ranger in Grand Teton National Park.
A photographer, Michael Nevin, was there to witness. “I was standing next to a row of trees when a person in a vehicle warned me of a nearby bear stuck in a tree. I looked at the row of trees I was standing next to and saw what looked like a black bear cub that was wedged at the bottom of two V-shaped tree trunks,” Nevin shared on Instagram.
Baby Bear Rescue
Officials from Wyoming Game and Fish came to the scene, accompanied by the National Park Service. The team helped free the bear cub, and she ran away. With no mother in sight, the expert team felt that the bear cub’s chances of survival in the winter alone were slim.
It is unusual to see a bear cub at this time of year in the Grand Teton National Park. It’s especially unusual with no mother in sight. The team was already aware of the little bear and were keeping a close eye on her.
Later, the bear ventured under a porch in a residential neighborhood in Kelly, Wyoming.
Baby Bear Rehab
Rescuers took the cub to the Idaho Black Bear Rehab (IBBR) center in Garden City, Idaho. There, she’ll recover for the winter. Now named Alice, she is doing well. They expect to release her into the wild next spring.
When Alice arrived, the rehab center assessed her health. “She is a bit underweight, and her paw pads have some surface wounds, but she is otherwise healthy,” Black Bear Rehab reported on Instagram. This is a good prognosis for a baby bear rescue.
Alice seems to be happy and looks very relaxed in her new surroundings. She has an attractive white blaze on her chest and a gorgeous, fluffy winter coat.
You can follow Alice’s progress and donate at bearrehab.org.
