Garbage kills: Three more cubs arrive at ABR after mother bear has to be euthanized

The three latest arrivals at Appalachian Bear Rescue have cute names — they are the Gatlinburgher triplets Patty, Pickles and Mac.

These 6-month-old black bear cubs will get the months-long care they need at this black bear rehabilitation center in Townsend and then be offered a second chance in the wild.

Behind the scene, however, this story is nothing short of tragic, said ABR Executive Director Dana Dodd. The triplets are at ABR because it became necessary to euthanize their mother after she injured people outside of a Gatlinburg motel.

A man was injured there as he stepped outside in the early morning hours of June 28 and interrupted the bear scouring trash cans outside. A similar incident happened on July 7 when a woman exited her room. The bear injured her leg. Both people had scratches and scars.

The mother bear was trapped along with the three cubs; she has since been euthanized. But there is still one of her cubs that didn’t walk into a trap. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and ABR are hoping the cub can be located and reunited with its siblings at ABR.

So far this year, TWRA has euthanized 13 bears, with 12 of them coming from Gatlinburg. Annually, they put down 15 to 30.

According to Janelle Musser, black bear support biologist for TWRA, the motel had the required animal-resistant trash bins, but the safety latches had been removed. She said the motel was given a warning citation and the trash cans were removed.

The same exact day this mother bear was euthanized, another adult bear had to be put down as well. This bear was going into a construction area and eating household garbage from a dumpster, Musser said. This was in the middle of the day with people all around. The bear even went inside the structure under construction.

“That had happened more than once,” Musser said. “That bear was only 1½ years old. That is how quickly that behavior escalates when young bears come in and start eating human food.”

Most of the time a bear will leave an area after a scary confrontation with people, Musser said. The one at the motel was seen in the parking lot of the motel trying to break into cars with her cubs in tow.

Pickles, Patty and Mac were taken to University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine to be checked out and are in good health, Dodd said. They join 14 other cubs of the year at ABR — Daisy Mae, Duke, Jellybean, Peeps, Casper, Shadow, Tots, Jackie P., SuBearu, Puff, Homer, Diamond, Champ and Sundae.

Homer, Champ and Diamond arrived on June 24 from Unicoi County. Sundae came to ABR on that same day, from Sevier County. Most of these tiny bears were orphaned after their momma bears got struck and killed by a car, were shot by landowners or the mothers were nowhere to be found. The mother of Champ, Diamond and Homer had to be euthanized due to injuries she suffered in the wild.

With social media posts, it seems like there are more and more bear incidents, TWRA Black Bear Coordinator Dan Gibbs pointed out. He saw one recent video of a man who said he was protecting a bear by leading it to cross a road. The man then gave chase, putting himself in danger.

“Stuff like this has been going on for 30 years,” he said. Gibbs said they can’t take any chances when it comes to safety and bears that have lost their fear of people. “We can’t sit around and wait and see if it is going to happen again. That is a recipe for disaster.”

So far in 2024,TWRA has handled 725 calls about bears statewide. Gatlinburg police also handles these types of calls on a frequent basis. It is illegal to feed bears inside the city of Gatlinburg as part of a TWRA proclamation. That can be hard to enforce, Musser said. There are three TWRA officers in Sevier County.

Staying in places where trash is properly secured, speaking out when the rules aren’t followed and supporting those making a real effort for change are ways to help, Musser said. Everyone should be angry over this situation, she said.

“Channel that anger and frustration into change,” Musser advised.

There is more heartbreak surrounding the three cubs from Gatlinburg. Wildlife officers wanted desperately to trap that fourth baby bear out there struggling alone. Dodd said the best way to get a cub to come back is having the mother bear there. So TWRA and ABR brought the euthanized mother bear back quickly to that area, placing the body in a trap. They sat out there all night, waiting and hoping, but the wandering cub never returned. The mother bear was then taken back to UT for a necropsy.

ABR Director of Operations Greg Grieco and ABR curators Tom Faulkner, Jamie Cales, Haley Carr, Katrina Anderson and intern Lindsey Rice all played a part in successfully getting three of the cubs to safety, along with Musser and Gibbs.

“This is the reality,” Dodd said. “This is what our wildlife officers have to deal with in the aftermath of all this trash. It isn’t about three adorable cubs that have a second chance. The real reality is these businesses must get trash under control.”