The bare bear needed help and a sanctuary to recover at. On Christmas Eve, two compassionate volunteers from California Department of Fish and Wildlife drove the bear, which they named Eve, to FFAWC. FFAWC made the proper arrangements in a sanctuary for the bear. With her extreme case of mange, they had to think twice about what type of bedding and materials to use. They did not want to irritate Eve’s skin even more. Also, mange is very contagious, so they had to be sure to make it as sanitary as possible.
Once Eve arrived at FFAWC, she was put in her own sanctuary to recover. She quickly won the hearts of the volunteers. Eve is on the road to recovery, but it will take time. The staff believes she will make a full recovery. When she is completely healed, FFAWC will release her back into the wild.
When Good Samaritans came across Eve who was digging through dumpsters in Butte County, they didn’t know what she was. She was almost completely without fur and extremely emaciated. They thought she was an aardvark. The California Department of Fish & Wildlife was called in to assist and quickly realized that this was not an aardvark but a very sick black bear.
Two volunteers from the CDFW drove her down to The Funds for Animal Wildlife Center in Ramona, CA (an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States) where she was rushed into emergency treatment. She arrived on Christmas Eve 12/24/2017. Arriving when she did was likely a miracle, since she only had days to live her condition was so severe. She was nicknamed Eve in honor of the holiday. Her road to recovery would be a long one. Mange takes time to recover from and she would need to time to grow out her coat.
The hope was to treat Eve and release her back in the wild. But after nearly a year and a half in treatment, her hair has still not grown out completely meaning she would have difficulty hibernating in the cold winters or protecting herself from potentially other bears attacks or from the forest floor in general. A scratch could lead to greater issues.
It was decided by The Fund for Animals Wildlife, that Eve could not be returned to the wild. At this time, Eve is waiting for her brand new large, natural enclosure at Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas to be complete. Then she will be transported there to live out her days in \”5 star accommodations.\”
