Biologists with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Black Bear Program have recently rescued and rehomed an abandoned black bear cub.
The baby bear was unexpectedly abandoned in the south Delta following a routine den check where state biologists conducted a workup on the first-time mother and cub. The young female, or sow, was not expected to have cubs this year because of her age and her frequent movements over the last few months.
Following the den check, game camera footage, and collar location data indicated the sow had left the tree den. Biologists monitored her location for a day and a half and she did not return.
Biologists were simultaneously monitoring a mature sow with cubs in Wilkinson County that they believed would be a good match for the abandoned cub. Because of imminent rainstorms and the sow not returning, biologists decided to go back to the den site to rescue the cub and relocate it to Wilkinson County.
After placing the cub in a new home in the southwest Mississippi county and introducing the animal to the other sow and its three cubs, biologists noted that the newly-introduced bear was being nursed by the new mama bear alongside her litter mates.
