"MEATBALL" THE BEAR FINDS TEMPORARY HAVEN AT LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS IN ALPINE

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August 31, 2012 (Alpine)--Earlier this week, the infamous Glendale bear known as "Meatball" returned to the La Cañada Flintridge area near L.A. to scavenge for food and was filmed in at least two locations and seen in a homeowner's swimming pool.
 
In response, the California Fish & Game Department dispatched a game warden to set culvert traps baited with bacon and honey to capture the bear. The compassionate decision was made to re-locate Meatball rather than to euthanize him, which is often the fate of what DFG calls an "habituated" bear - one that's not afraid to enter areas of human habitation.

 

 

One of the traps caught Meatball. Thankfully, no tranquilizer was needed to retrieve Meatball or to secure him in the transportation vehicle that brought him to Lions, Tigers and Bears.  He will eventually be sent to The Wildlife Sanctuary near Denver.
 
Meatball is now in quarantine at LTB and is enjoying his new setting.
 
“We have already fallen in love with this sweet bear, said founder Bobbi Brink, who agreed to transport the bear to his permanent home. "Meatball's situation is a clear example of why people should not feed wildlife."
 
Brink would like to provide a permanent home to Meatball right here in San Diego, but says the facility has run out of room in its current bear habitat. Because so many bears find themselves in the same predicament as Meatball, the organization seeks donations to expand its bear habitat so as to accommodate future rescues of habituated animals.
 
For more information, visit www.lionstigersandbears.org

 


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