Cute Rescued Bear Cub Chortles at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Center [VIDEO]

Tahoe the rescued bear cub is now relaxed and content at her new home at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC). Watch the video to see her chortling as she suckles and kneads a blanket (you might have seen your cat mimic nursing the same way, remembering the comfort and reward it yielded as a kitten). The bear’s chortling sounds are similar to a cat’s happy purring.

The tiny bear’s history is unclear, but an unknown person was smart enough to bring her to the BEAR League rescue center rather than attempt to care for her alone. Later, the LTWC received a sobering anonymous call from someone claiming to have saved Tahoe after finding her next to a dead bear near Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

On arrival, Tahoe was only 5.4 pounds, eight to 10 weeks old, dehydrated and weak and barely able to walk. BEAR League transferred the cub to LTWC. Secretary and treasurer Tom Millham says that this is the first time in the Center’s 31 year history that someone dropped off a bear cub.

Tahoe looks mighty cute and cuddly, just like a little teddy bear, and a more selfish person might have been tempted to bring the orphaned cub home and keep her as a pet. But the average person knows nothing about caring for a baby bear, and wouldn’t know what to do with the animal as she grew into a huge, dangerous adult. Tahoe is very lucky that someone knew enough to take her to a wildlife center, where she has a chance to be rehabilitated and released into the wild to live a natural life.

LTWC’s executive director Cheryl Millham knows that this fuzzy baby bear doesn’t want or need to bond with humans, and no one at the center attempts to bond with her. Instead, they hope to take in another bear cub to make friends with Tahoe until both of them are fit enough to be released.

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