Dillan languished for decades in the cramped confines of a cage near a shooting range, enduring the alarming and near-constant gunfire just 200 yards away.
Image Credit: Facebook/The Wild Animal Sanctuary
Dillan, an overweight Asiatic black bear who was rescued from a cramped
enclosure at a sportsmen’s club in Millmont, Pa. earlier this year, is now
thriving in an open, grassy area at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg,
Colo, living with his enclosure mate, Lily, a female Asiatic black bear.
The rescued bear also lives near an American black bear named Ricki and
several tigers rescued from the infamous “Tiger King,” Joe Exotic.
After arriving at the sanctuary in January with a host of untreated medical
problems, Dillan underwent extensive dental surgery to remove some of his
decaying teeth. Caretakers gradually acclimated the obese bear, who weighed
875 pounds at the time, to a spacious enclosure, where he became accustomed
to living near other bears.
“Like most bears in the wild, they live in the same space but apart,” the
rescue reported in Sanctuary News, its quarterly publication. “They are
often seen in the habitat … doing what bears do, which includes climbing and
sitting on legs, digging and swimming, and, of course, eating.”
Dillan’s health improved and he quickly lost weight. Previously, his belly
dragged on the ground as he walked, but that soon changed.
Before relocating to the sanctuary, Dillan languished for decades in the
cramped confines of a cage near a shooting range, enduring the alarming and
near-constant gunfire just 200 yards away. Caretakers at the Wild Animal
Sanctuary estimated that he was several hundred pounds overweight when he
arrived, and Dillan suffered from various other ailments, including
arthritis and infected gums.
He also suffered from psychological damage after decades in captivity, as
evidenced by his visibly distressed appearance and tendency to rock
back-and-forth. After numerous USDA citations and amid mounting pressure
from tens of thousands of animal activists, the sportsmen’s club released
Dillan into the care of rescuers, who provided the unhealthy bear with a
long-overdue second chance at life.
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