Black bear cub with head stuck in jar for days rescued by N.C. wildlife officials – WLOS

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by Dean Hensley
(WLOS) — A black bear cub with its head stuck inside a plastic jar for a few days was recently rescued by North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission staff.
The agency told News 13 it had received reports through its Wildlife Helpline starting on Oct. 6 of a cub in the Haw Creek vicinity with its head stuck in a large plastic jar. Wildlife officials said they started searching the area to locate the cub.
"At 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, staff were able to locate the cub, distract its mother and another cub, and successfully remove the container," Anna Gurney, the public relations manager with the Wildlife Resources Commission, said.
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Gurney said the jar had to be carefully cut off of the cub.
"While the cub was unable to forage for at least several days due to the jug covering its head, there was a crack in the plastic jug, which allowed it to breathe," Gurney said.
Staff were able to observe the cub from a distance prior to darting it, and the cub appeared to be moving normally with no appearance of injuries.
"Once the cub was anesthetized, staff evaluated the cub and no visible injuries were observed. The focus was removing the jug quickly and safely and waking the cub back up to reunite it with its family group as quickly as possible," Gurney said. "The mother bear stayed in the area and quickly reunited with her cub after the jug was removed and the cub was back up on its paws."
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The Wildlife Resources Commission said in instances like these, the public should always call the Wildlife Hotline, since wildlife staff are trained and experienced with these types of situations.
"Members of the public should not attempt to approach wildlife, particularly a female bear with cubs," Gurney said.
Staff noticed a nearby business had a full dumpster with a trail of trash leading away from it. Wildlife officials believe bears have been “dumpster diving,” foraging for food in the dumpster. Other bears were also seen foraging through residential trash cans in the same neighborhood in the days leading up to biologists locating and assisting the cub, Gurney said.
“We appreciate the community members for reporting this cub in distress and are happy to report it returned to its mother once we removed the container. We ask that both residents and businesses secure their trash to avoid these types of issues,” James Tomberlin, Western Management Western Supervisor, said.
Anyone seeing wildlife in distress should contact the N.C. Wildlife Helpline at 866-318-2401 or send an email to hwi@ncwildlife.org.
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