Welcome to your new home Yona!!! Yona will be arriving at the museum on January 15 and we are very excited for Yona to live here with our other 4 bears. Yona was rescued from Townsend, TN and found weighing around four pounds: still a defenseless cub. She was found on the side of the road and picked up by a good hearted woman, who later named her Yona meaning 'bear' in Cherokee. The woman later called the Appalachian Bear Rescue for help in raising the cub...and they are sending Yona to live with us!
Unfortunately, Yona was imprinted by all of her human interaction and can not return to the wild. Imprinting is defined as a permanent visual socialization that will occur as soon as the animal or bird is able to focus. How does this affect Yona in particular? Yona was found at a very early age; she was then totally dependent on people for her food, shelter, warmth, skills, interactions and love. This seems like a good idea in the beginning, but as she grew older she bonded to people not bears. ABR tried to place Yona with their other bears; to re-introduce her to her own species & have her learn to be a BEAR... but she was too imprinted for the wild.
Yona will serve as a shining example of why we do not take in wild animals. It is not only very dangerous, but also selfish on the humans' part. A life in captivity is nothing compared to a life in the wild. I am glad Yona found such a great place to spend the rest of her life!
It costs the Museum more than $25,000 a year to care for its rescued bears. If you would like to help you can adopt a bear or make a contribution by calling the Museum at 919-220-5429 ext. 352.
