Black bears only rarely venture to the Chattanooga area, where For Fox Sake is located, but we occasionally get calls from people in other parts of the state, asking for help with orphaned black bears. They’re our favorite calls to take!
Should you end up confronting a bear cub in the wild, the most important thing to do is to watch for your own safety. Even a very thin or sickly-looking bear cub may still have a mother watching nearby. While black bears generally don’t pose a danger to humans, approaching cubs isn’t a risk you want to take. Watch from a distance, ideally with bear spray and a companion with you.
Cubs can be independent from Mom when they reach 30-35 lbs, about the size of a cocker spaniel. If you see a cub smaller than this and know is an orphan because you’ve seen the mother’s body with your own eyes, or because you’ve been watching it from a distance for more than 36 hours with no sign of Mom, it’s important to get the cub help.
Cases of unqualified people “helping” orphan bears with supplemental food can’t possibly end well. Not only is this “help” likely to fail to provide proper nutrition, but it will invariably lead to the cub associating humans with food— which we all know can’t end well. (Rehabilitators for black bears have special caging and equipment that allows them to feed bears without being seen.)
In Tennessee, the correct agency to contact about an orphaned bear is Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, specifically the game wardens local to your region and county. TWRA will often be able to send someone to help safely capture the cub. Do not attempt to capture the cub yourself.
Here in Tennessee, Appalachian Bear Rescue in Townsend is the only rehabilitation facility equipped to care for bears, so they will ultimately be the ones to rehabilitate any bears in need of assistance. If you do find a bear who ends up in need of help, consider making a donation to ABR so they can continue their work!
As black bears continue to reclaim their former range and as suburbs continue overtaking rural areas, encounters between humans and black bears will become more common. Let’s all work together to make sure to keep both humans and bears safe, especially when a cub needs help.
For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue 