“It is interesting to me that anybody would think it’s OK to just walk up and grab a bear cub and not be concerned about where mama is,” says Appalachian Wildlife Refuge co-founder Savannah Trantham said. “If she had been close by, I think that you probably would have seen a different outcome.”
Asheville made national headlines last month after a video that showed people pulling two bear cubs from a tree to take photos with the animals went viral.
“As humans, it is our responsibility to protect wildlife, report when there is mistreatment and uphold consequences for mistreatment, as it is unlawful to interfere.”
The lone black bear cub found on the Western Carolina University campus on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 26, will spend time at a N.C. wildlife rehabilitation facility as part of an effort to eventually release it back into the wild.
