Bear cubs on journey for survival after wildfire rescue, officials say
By Janice Limon
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GEORGETOWN, South Carolina (WYFF) — A wildfire sparked on the South Carolina coast led to the discovery of two tiny bear cubs now on a journey of survival that included a stop in the Upstate.
According to Appalachian Bear Rescue, the wildlife-saving saga began on Monday night, Jan. 29, as Georgetown County firefighters were working a wildfire and the equipment accidentally disturbed a bear den.
“As they continued to work, firemen heard crying in the area,” the group posted to social media. “They searched through the brush and found two tiny cubs.”
Officials said the month bear was nowhere to be found.
A firefighter kept the cubs warm at his home overnight and then contacted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which transferred the care of the animals to the rescue group.
ABR, a nonprofit organization in Townsend, Tennessee, dedicated to nurturing and returning black bears to the wild, contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, experts in this kind of rescue, as volunteers worked to keep the precious cubs alive.
Rescuers said the female cub weighs 340 grams, which is about the size and weight of three sticks of butter. The male weighs 454 grams. Officials said they are only a week or so old.
They have been named Carolina Bear and Pawley Bear.
SCDNR Biologist Tammy Waldrop drove from Clemson to join the team that had already arrived from Tennessee to drive the fragile cargo back to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.
Along the way, they made an important stop in Spartanburg at Pine Street Animal Hospital for food and fluids.
“Dr. Glenn Adcock and his team very graciously helped these cubs and refused to accept any payment for their efforts,” ABR officials said. “Both cubs received fluids. The male cub took a bottle from Curator Haley, but the female cub didn’t want any part of a bottle. Dr. Adcock tube-fed the little bear to give her enough nourishment for the trip to Tennessee.”
As of Thursday night, ABR says the two fire-rescued cubs are doing well. They are sharing an incubator with another tiny rescued cub.
They are “taking their bottles well and are up to eating 30% of their body weight every day,” officials said. “That’s right where they should be and we are happy about that.”
They said the cubs need the warmth of an incubator, around-the-clock feeding, and around-the-clock monitoring with checks of their temperature, heart rate, blood sugar, among other vitals.
“We are very fortunate to have the doctors at UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine only 30 minutes from our gates,” ABR officials said.
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