Injured Bear Cub Whose Mother Was Killed When Hit by a Car Needs Your Help

The Orphaned Wildlife Center has set up a GoFundMe goal of $15,000 to help cover the cost of new and improved enclosures, a den and a small pool for the healing bear cub

Photo: GoFundMe.com/orphanedbearcub

You can call him “Little Bear” or “Little Vinny NuNu,” and you can also call him lucky to be alive.

Last week, a woman named Fawn Schneider brought the cub to the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, New York. The cub had been hit by a car and narrowly survived, but his mother was killed. The little guy was unconscious and unresponsive at first, but has proven to be a fighter. After constant care and monitoring by the Center’s veterinary staff, the cub has pulled through the worst of his multiple head and leg injuries.

As noted in a Facebook post, the Center turned to Dr. Roeder and her staff, who did a “thorough examination” of the animal. She found severe swelling in his brain, head trauma, a severe concussion and an injured leg, and she put the cub on “powerful meds.” Eventually the baby bear started to lick and suck at a little syringe of formula. By the weekend, the young bear had progressed to eating solid food (a peach!). He was opening his eyes more frequently and moving around, even trying to stand on his own.

“Very slowly he gets a little better every day. He needs 24-hour monitoring and we work with his limbs, and do physical therapy every day to keep them strong. His one eye which was just a pinprick, now looks almost normal and he has started to be awake a little more each day,” reads a GoFundMe page started to help the cub.

These were all positive signs, but as he continues to improve, it has become imperative that the Center provide him with the kind of space he requires in order to really thrive.

GoFundMe.com/orphanedbearcub

“Please keep those prayers coming and please, please, PLEASE consider a donation. We have decided to move along as if he WILL survive and we need to prepare and build a better enclosure for him. He needs to be in a smaller space (if he starts to improve more) than our current cub enclosure, and he needs to be in a bigger space than he is now during convalescence. Please please consider a donation,” the Orphaned Wildlife Center wrote in another Facebook post.

To that end, the Center set up the aforementioned GoFundMe to help cover the cost of the new and improved enclosures, a den and a small pool for the healing bear. As of this article’s posting, it has raised over $3,500 of the $15,000 needed for this endeavor.

As of Monday, the bear cub was continuing to improve. “He has use of all of his limbs but not fully. He mostly falls over when he tries to stand, but he does repeatedly attempt it, which is a good sign,” reads a post from the Center.

Unfortunately, there’s still a long way for Little Vinny NuNu Bear to go. An update from Tuesday morning reads:

“Our vet took a look again at the little guy. He IS doing well but there are also many concerns. She is unsure at this point about his vision. There are a lot of worries there. One side of him has been affected by the brain swelling and bleeding. The eye, and the front and back leg. The front leg leg is much better … he used to always have that turned under but now he hardly drags it anymore. The back leg, which was never too bad, still drags along a little bit. When you touch his paws on the right side, he flinches … when you touch his left paws he doesn’t move. Every day he seems a little more aware of things.”

“Slight improvement every day,” the post continues. “He still has some swelling in the brain. As that continues to go down we hope for more improvement. The vet suggested that he would continue to get better for about two months and then whatever he is at that time, he likely will be … Thank you to all you good people who have helped us financially. We are starting tomorrow on building a new place for him and moving forward as if he WILL survive and WILL need it. Will post pictures as we progress.”

Click here to support a new enclosure for this beloved little cub. Your contribution could make all the difference in this sweet orphan animal’s regular care, healthy progress and continued growth.