Starving black bear cub, found in New Mexico, on road to recovery
ESPAÑOLA, N.M. (KRQE) – A malnourished bear cub, weighing just 16 pounds, is given a second chance at life after it was found near Red River a few months ago.
“The worst cub we’ve ever received in absolute end-stage starvation,” stated Dr. Kathleen Ramsay, co-founder of Cottonwood Rehab Center.
The Cottonwood Rehab Center said they got a call on March 3 about a starving bear spotted near Red River. It was a nearly two-year-old female black bear that the New Mexico Game and Fish captured in Mallette Canyon and then turned over to the rehab center.
“So, this bear was so far down. She could no longer open her mouth to chew, and you don’t think of your tongue also as a muscle, but it’s a very powerful muscle. So, she could not maneuver her tongue, and she could not maneuver her jaw muscles,” explained Dr. Ramsay.
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Dr. Kathleen Ramsay said they estimate the cub weighed nearly 16 pounds when it was rescued, noting that bears this age normally weigh between 160 to 190 pounds.
They said the bear had some kind of spinal injury and suspected it could’ve been hit by a car. The center said there were discussions about whether or not the cub would recover but decided to take her in and have since named her “Prayer.”
“You can tell when working with wildlife. You really get a sense for do they have the fight to continue or not, and she did, and so to see her now, it’s incredible,” stated Cottonwood Rehab Center Executive Director Nirankar Horak.
For the first few months, prayer had to be fed nutrients using a syringe and tubes. They said Prayer now weighs about 100 pounds and was moved out of the intensive care enclosure about two weeks ago. The center stated, once she reaches a healthy weight, she can be released back into the wild.
“They’re resilient. I don’t know of another animal that can lose so much weight and come back and continue fighting,” commented Horak.
Cottonwood Rehab said they hope to release Prayer back into the wild in September. They’ll also be having their annual Bearfest in August where people can learn more about the organization.
