Bear cub’s paw stuck under 40-pound boulder for days in western Virginia – The Virginian-Pilot

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A 3-month-old black bear got his paw stuck under a 40-pound boulder in western Virginia — leaving him crying and trapped for days, wildlife experts said.
The less than 10-pound cub was admitted May 12 to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro for treatment, according to a news release by the rescue service.
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources responds to calls about orphaned and injured cubs and helps bring them to the center after determining if they need help, a center spokesperson said.
It’s not clear how the cub got caught, but biologists believe the boulder may have come loose when he climbed onto it or fallen while he was foraging underneath it, the spokesperson said.
The young cub was “moderately dehydrated” and had a swollen paw, according to the center.
Now, he’s recuperating in a large mammal isolation compound where he can smell and hear another bear cub at the center, the rescue service said, adding that he had to be kept separate because of his injuries.
“Because the cub is young and his joints and bones have not fully ossified, the veterinary team plans to take repeat radiographs of the paw as he develops,” experts said in the release.
The center is roughly 95 miles northwest of Richmond.
Biologists believe the cub may have been abandoned by its mother, but it’s not known if that would have happened before the entrapment or after, according to the spokesperson.
“It is interesting to note that the boulder could have easily been moved by an adult bear, so the situation is once again unclear,” the spokesperson said.
Instead of releasing the bear where it was found, experts decided to place him in the orphaned bear program.
“Due to the nature of the potential injuries causing mobility issues, and the length of time that the cub had been crying, it was deemed unlikely that the sow was in the area and was attempting to retrieve the cub,” biologists said, according to the spokesperson.
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