‘Unrecognizable’ Black Bear Cub Found Scrounging in Dumpster Makes Incredible Recovery

When we see stories about the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned, abused, or frightened animals, we often expect that the stories will be about dogs or cats. Occasionally, a mistreated horse or monkey will be found and saved, but this rescued bear cub is the last animal anyone would expect to find needing a human’s help in the condition it was in.

Dubbed “Eve” by her rescuers at the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife back on Christmas Eve in 2017, the diminutive “black bear” was hardly recognizable when she was found scavenging for food in a dumpster.

Mange had ravaged her coat so badly that it was tough to tell she was a bear in the first place. She had no hair left on her body, and her skin was mottled, crusting, and breaking open in places. She was starving and severely underweight, and her growth had been stunted by a horrifying lack of nutrition due to her heartbreaking situation.

Luckily, though, the wildlife rescuers who found her in Placer County, California, were patient with her as she slowly but surely recovered, and things have been looking up in the 12 months ever since!

It wasn’t an easy physical recovery for the bear, who had been nicknamed the “bare bear” for her complete lack of a coat. Although she started to gain some weight, her fur wasn’t regrowing the way they had hoped it would.

Eventually, though, things started to turn around. And now, although she still has a ways to go before she looks like the kind of black bear you’d see in the wild—and may never look exactly like all of her majestic friends—she’s starting to look a lot better!

“We have always been committed to Eve’s care and have always put her best interest foremost—just as we do now. We will continue our commitment and are in the initial stages of preparing Eve for a Forever Home at our sister animal sanctuary, Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas,” wrote the wildlife center, after months—literally—of updates on how much TLC was required to get her to this point.

“Eve will remain here in our care, while we work together to raise funds for a state of the art, large habitat that Eve can forever call home. We know it won’t be easy or inexpensive—it already costs us close to $500 every week just to care for her here—bears aren’t cheap house-guests; they’ll literally eat you out of house and home! :-)”

Due to her lack of a full coat of fur and her developmental delays, Eve will never be able to rejoin her friends in the wild. But for now, it’s clear that her life has improved by a mile—and definitely for the better!