Appalachian Bear Rescue is a rehabilitation center for orphaned and injured black bears and those in need of medical care. (The Herald/Submitted Photo)

The Appalachian Bear Rescue (ABR), a Townsend-based rehabilitation center for orphaned and injured black bear cubs, has just announced that it passed its class one wildlife facility inspection. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) inspected the facility on June 19 and gave its approval to renew the organization’s license for two years.

According to Walter Cook, TWRA’s captive wildlife coordinator based in Nashville, the organization has been upgrading and continuing to improve the facility.

“Prior to the inspection we had been told that safety measures must be added, such as a walkway to provide a safety buffer between our curator and the bears,” said Heather Ripley, spokeswoman for ABR. “Thanks to the generous donations we’ve been receiving and volunteers who have provided the labor, the new walkway was completed before we had the inspection.”

ABR is currently raising capital to finish additional upgrades to the facility. According to Ripley, the funds raised will turn an empty building into a nursery for orphaned cubs too young for enclosures, build a refrigerated storage unit that will allow the organization to buy cub food in bulk, and complete a second wild enclosure to allow regeneration of the forest growth.

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