Vets in Poland working to save brown bear cub

A veterinarian says that a young brown bear found exhausted in snowy woods in southeastern Poland is improving but remains in life-threatening condition

Poland Bear Cub

A veterinarian said Tuesday that a brown bear cub found exhausted in snowy woods in southeastern Poland is improving but remains in life-threatening condition.

In a “good sign,” the young male named Ada had eaten two meals by Tuesday morning, after he was given medication and put in a warm hut, said the veterinarian caring for him, Jakub Kotowicz.

“But he is in serious condition with advanced neurological symptoms persisting,” Kotowicz, deputy head of the veterinary center in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, told The Associated Press.

It could be from exhaustion, from some infection of the nervous system or from parasites. Ada is undergoing very detailed examination and diagnostics, Kotowicz said.

The cub, apparently born in the spring of 2021, was spotted by a forester on Monday wobbling alone in snow near a creek.

There were wolf tracks nearby and some blood spots, but no sign of his mother. Local forestry authorities decided he should be caught and taken to the Center for Rehabilitation of Protected Animals in Przemysl, spokesman for local foresters, Maciej Szpiech, said.

Szpiech said the aim is to eventually release the cub back into nature.

In 2016, the center saved a young female bear that was later sent to a zoo in Poznan, western Poland.

Brown bears are rare in Poland and are strictly protected, numbering no more than some 100 animals.