August 2, 2024: Earlier this afternoon, we received a call from TWRA Biologist Janelle Musser. She set a trap this morning for a bear that destroyed a homeowner’s garage door. Within two hours, the bear was trapped. Sadly, the bear was female and had three cubs.
A bear that is willing to break apart a garage door to get inside for trash and a refrigerator full of food is a very dangerous bear. TWRA had no choice but to euthanize her. The homeowners were saddened, but explained that there are a lot of rentals in their area and that rental company housekeepers drive around with their cars and open-bed trucks full of trash every day. This sow was in this trash every day.
The bear family was technically trapped at a Sevierville address in Sevier County, Tennessee, but the home was right outside Gatlinburg. Unfortunately, there is no public trash service in the county areas of Sevier County. People must take their trash to convenience centers. To exacerbate the problem, there is a lot of construction going on in the area. There are lots and lots of construction dumpsters that are not bear-resistant. It’s a known problem that cabin cleaners often find unsupervised construction dumpsters and throw all the trash in them. It’s much faster than driving to a convenience center or to the cabin cleaning business’ dumpster. It’s very difficult to control and it creates an environmental hazard when bears and other wildlife drag the nasty trash out of the dumpsters and up and down our mountainsides.
Fortunately, TWRA was able to trap all three cubs. That’s a very difficult task and we sincerely appreciate Janelle’s efforts and skill. Curators Greg and Katrina met Janelle to pick up the cubs and transport them to UTCVM-University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for exams. The three cubs are all female and are healthy. ABR 411 broke a canine tooth while in the trap and doctors pulled the tooth. It’s just a baby tooth that the cub would lose soon anyway. ABR 411 weighs 15kgs (33 pounds). ABR 412 also weighs 15kgs (33 pounds). ABR 413 is the smallest of the family, but she is not small. She weighs a healthy 14kgs (30.8 pounds).
Curators will place the three arrivals in Hartley House tonight. The three rooms in Hartley will allow them to split up the siblings to take their worm meds over the next three days.
Please welcome ABR 411 Bubbles, ABR 412 Mojo and ABR 413 Fuzzy. We will do our best for them and with your help, we will give them a second chance at life in the wild where they belong.
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