A return to the wild – that’s the goal for five rescued and orphaned bear cubs staying at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
But wildlife center staff might just have to adjust their plan to release them.
So far only one bear was trapped and released, and the rest climbed high into a tree when staff arrived.
The bears arrived at the center last year and have been staying in a two-acre complex outdoors.
Spring is typically when they would leave their moms in the wild, but we’re told there are even more natural resources this year because of the unseasonably warm weather.
Now staff members are getting creative. They’re hoping a trip to KFC will do the trick and help them catch the rest.
“Getting them to go into a live trap sometimes take a little bit of ingenuity and in this case, again what we’re really hoping will do the trick is that fried chicken,” Outreach Public Affairs Manager Alex Wehrung said.
The only female of the group was rescued in Salem, while another cub was found with a broken leg near a road in Nelson County last May.