WAYNESBORO -- An orphaned bear cub from Suffolk is getting bigger and bigger.
The cub and his brother were removed from a tree after their mother was struck by a vehicle and killed as they crossed Route 58 last month.
The cubs were taken to The Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, where one of the cubs later died. The necropsy showed it had a puncture in its intestine, likely caused when he was darted with a tranquilizer.
The second cub isn't showing an ill effects of the darting and is acting like, well, a bear, so it was a bit of a struggle to get him to weigh in.
"The staff went up to weigh and clean the bear last Tuesday but they did not get a weight on the bear. He was a bit more of a handful than they bargained for! Rather than running into the crate to be weighed, he stood his ground and reared up on his hind legs and took a swipe at our staff rehabilitator," spokeswoman Amanda Nicholson told WVEC.com.
Three days later, they got the cub into a pre-weighed crate and discovered he'd put on about 11 pounds.
"While he was difficult that day, that’s a good thing. He doesn’t like people," she noted. He weighed in at 34 pounds.
The Center is consulting with a bear biologist to determine when the bear can released. He would be returned to the Suffolk area by the Va. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Meantime, the Center has a live critter cam that often shows the bear in his pen.
