KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/Gray News) – A wildlife agency in Tennessee is under fire for euthanizing 13 bear cubs from an animal rescue group.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) issued a statement after making the decision to euthanize 13 cubs from Appalachian Bear Rescue.
TWRA said that in 2023, several bears at the rescue facility got pneumonia, leading to the death of one and the euthanasia of two others.
They said that this year, two bears in the same enclosure had a similar disease. Those bears also shared a fence line with another enclosure, making way for the potential of the disease spreading to that enclosure as well.
Because of the potential risk of the disease spreading, TWRA made the decision to euthanize all the bears that had possibly …