Editor’s Note: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Bear Management Program works closely with Brevard Zoo and other partners to ensure orphaned black bear cubs not yet able to survive on their own are given the best chances at successful rehabilitation and eventual release back into their natural habitat. The FWC aims to release rehabilitated young bears on public conservation areas that have high-quality bear habitat and low density of both bears and people to give them the best chances for survival.

We’re ripe with joy—Avocado the Florida black bear cub is now receiving care at our behind-the-scenes East Coast Zoological Foundation’s Black Bear Rehabilitation Center. This approximately 6-month-old female cub came to our Zoo after being found without her mother in the Oklawaha area.

Avocado received a full veterinary check-up when she arrived which found that, other than being a bit underweight and riddled with ticks, the 16-pound cub is healthy!

She has joined this year’s current set of cubs at our Rehabilitation Center: Palmer, Sammy, Scruffy, and Grape. Feisty Avocado took some time to get to know her habitat-mates, but Sammy in particular won her over.

Our goal for all these cubs is to be released back to their native range once they reach certain milestones. Our animal care team strives to keep them from associating people with food, relying on the camera system in their habitat to keep a close watch over them.

The cubs spend their days learning “how to be a bear” – learning how to interact with fellow bears, forage for food, navigate different terrains (like ponds!), and more.

Bears play such an important role in their ecosystem for a number of reasons, including dispersing seeds throughout their territories and even breaking up decomposing matter in their search for insects. Every cub rehabilitated is a win in preserving and protecting the Florida black bear species.

Please contact the FWC’s 24-hour Wildlife Alert Hotline right away at 888-404-FWCC (3922) if you have found an orphaned, sick, injured or dead Florida black bear.