Nine cases of three-legged bears have North Carolina residents confused.
A video titled “Mama bear and 3 cubs demolish birdfeeder” was posted on WLOS. The video shows surveillance footage of a three-legged mama bear tending to its cubs as the bear family frolics in someone’s yard.
The Help Asheville Bears Facebook page has pulled together more video footage, photos, and reports of bears with three legs.
“We have more bears. Our population has been increasing,” Justin McVey, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, told WLOS. “Bears get hit by cars all the time. Unfortunately, bears with three legs is not uncommon. They adapt very well, and they can live a successful life even with just three legs.”
Help Asheville Bears does not believe the bears are missing limbs due to auto accidents. The group is still investigating the reason. The group has even put out a $10,000 reward for information leading to anybody involved with creating the situation.
Some of the information on the Facebook page suggests that it’s due to bear traps, but McVey disagrees.
“Traps that are used today would not pull a foot or a leg off,” McVey told WLOS.
Help Asheville Bears is not convinced.
“With the 9 bears that we have confirmed are missing part of a front limb but having no other noticeable injuries in the counties of Buncombe and Henderson, we at Help Asheville Bears still do not accept the theory that the causes are most likely auto accidents involving bears (implying also that the bear then walks off and loses their front leg). We also do not think that it is bear fights, but we welcome any evidence or data,” the group wrote in a post responding to McVey’s statements to media.
McVey talked about how the bears survive after losing a limb.
“They will generally kind of move away from people, kind of get to a quiet place, rest and recuperate. Generally, those wounds heal on their own, and then they’re able to go out and live a normal life,” McVey told WLOS.
Although the exact cause of the missing paws is still in debate, Help Asheville Bears did offer a potential lead in an earlier post, from Sep. 19.
“Earlier this year, a woman admitted & purchasing bear parts in NC and then selling them in Georgia and was tried in US District Court in Asheville.
“We don’t know who and how, but 5 bears have the same type injury which can really only be caused by a trap. Bear paws are one of the items illegally sold to China.”
The group also shared the potential consequences of this situation, in that same post.
“These two moms with cubs have about 12 weeks left to get their weight back up for hibernation. If the momma doesn’t survive hibernation, the cubs could die also.”
The group said it started the Facebook page because a local bear named Peaches disappeared for weeks. When the Peaches reappeared, part of its leg was missing, and it was much thinner.
