Orphan bear cub was left at another mama bear’s den in Tennessee. Here’s what she did

A mama bear’s compassionate reaction to an orphan cub being left at the entrance to her den has exposed many to the gentler side of the creatures.

The touching moment happened the week of March 6 in East Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest when a cub was found “crying” by the road after its mother had been killed by a car in Cocke County, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

The cub was first taken to a local police station, and then put in the care of Appalachian Bear Rescue.

“The bear is a male cub-of-the-year, about seven weeks old, and weighs 1.8 pounds,” Appalachian Bear Rescue wrote on Facebook. “He seems to be in good health, strong of voice and sharp of claw!”

Finding a foster mother for a bear cub is tough for countless reasons, but Tennessee Wildlife Resources had an idea: Why not drop the cub outside another mama bear’s den?

So the agency did just that — with a long “catch pole” — and waited to see what happened next.

That’s when the mama bear, which already had cubs, “reached out with a paw and pulled the new cub to her,” state agency officials said.

“Now there’s a happy ending.”

It was now hers, and where it came from didn’t seem to matter.

The news has warmed hearts on social media, with many marveling at the bear’s unconditional acceptance of the cub. Others joked she went to sleep with three kids and woke up with four.

“I wish humans had as much compassion,” Judy Thrasher wrote on Facebook.

“Just amazing,” Konner Kirkwood posted.

“I love when wild animals foster babies and they’re just like ‘Oh when did I give birth to this extra one? weird.’ And they just accept this extra baby,” Juniper Russo said.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency suspected the plan would work, because they’ve tried it before with the same bear. Plus, she was known to currently have cubs of the same age and size as the orphaned cub, officials said.

“We know that even on our very best day, we don’t compare to a Mother Bear!” Appalachian Bear Rescue wrote March 6.

This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Orphan bear cub was left at another mama bear’s den in Tennessee. Here’s what she did."