Baby bear cub was stranded alone by the riverside
Last year, Danny Allen was rafting on the Nolichucky River, which runs between Tennessee and North Carolina, when he spotted something in the distance. A very young bear cub was wandering along the river’s edge, clearly lost from her mother.
Danny rowed closer to the shore to get a better sense of the situation. When he approached, the little bear cub did something he couldn’t have anticipated… Get ready for your heart to melt, because there was a lot more to this little bear cub than initially meets the eye. This story is so heartwarming…
Danny Allen was rafting on the Nolichucky River when he saw a baby bear cub all by herself on the riverbank. He moved his raft toward the shore to check on the cub when, to his surprise, she jumped right in his raft!
Danny took the baby bear to his friend Matt Moses, from the USA Raft Company, which was nearby. As it turned out, Moses had, in fact, himself, noticed the little bear cub in the last few days, as well.
Neither of the men had ever seen a bear cub act in such a manner before and they soon came to the realization that it was probably because the poor little cub was starving and very dehydrated.
The men made a call to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. During the call the men were informed that the TWR had arranged for the bear to be taken to the nearby.
Once she arrived at the ABR, the doctors who were looking after her focused on getting the bear, who they also had named Noli after the river where she had been discovered, hydrated and fed for the first time in days.
Noli received a thorough examination from the trained ABR veterinarians, who began to plan for her long-term recovery in the hospital and eventual reintroduction to the wild where she lives and belongs.
They took the time to help make sure that Noli could get comfortable being at her temporary new home and started working on her rehabilitation and eventual release back into the wild where she could roam freely.
Part of their work was to make sure Noli was able to climb trees, because she would have to do this in the wild. Also, to find her way around the forest, and do the sorts of things that all bears in the wild need to be able to do.
After a while at the rehabilitation center, Noli became partial to the applesauce and grapes ABR workers gave her to eat with her meals. Both of these fruits are good for her and for her to become rehydrated.
Her health clearly began to improve after only a few months, however, she still needed to gain at the bare minimum 50 pounds before the ABR workers would consider releasing her back into the her natural habitat.
The veterinarians kept her on the grape and applesauce diet, which was working well to keep Noli hydrated and healthy. It became obvious that she was thoroughly enjoying eating these fruits, as you can see that she loved to bury her face into a gigantic bowl of them.
And the veterinarians also introduced her to her \”classmates\” at the ABR, the other rescued cubs whom she would be joining when she eventually reentered the wild. Their names were Marvin, Sola, and Carter!
Noli and the other bears had lots of fun playing and messing around with each other. They were able to do this while also working on their survival skills that they would need in their natural habitats, once they were released.
After a few months, Noli and her classmates began to grow bigger and stronger. They would all certainly need to bulk up in order to maintain their place in the food chain once they were released back into the wild.
And eventually the ABR workers decided that the group were ready to go back to the wild. Though they didn’t want to let them go because they had forged such a tight bond with all of the adorable bears.
Eventually, Noli and all of her best friends that she made while rehabilitating had grown enough and were ready to be released back into the wild. So the people at the ABR got them ready to depart once and for all.
It was a sad day for the folks at the ABR when Noli and her group were to be released. But they’d always have fond memories and remember the little bear who hopped her way into a raft to hold on to her life.