KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Appalachian Bear Rescue welcomed their 411th, 412th and 413th bear nicknamed Bubbles, Mojo and Fuzzy. According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, officers trapped the mother bear who broke into a homeowner's garage and began eating food from a refrigerator.
The Rescue took in 19 cubs last year, the 3 new cubs rescued this weekend mark the 20th bear cubs it rescued this year.
After a cub nicknamed Tots was euthanized last month, TWRA currently has 19 bear cubs in their rehabilitation program.
"When you have orphaned cubs from conflict or from natural causes, there's not a lot of things to do with them," said Greg Greico, Director of Operations for the rescue.
TWRA said bears are attracted to the easy meal, oftentimes that includes trash from unsecured dumpsters or trash cans - or even food purposely left out by the public.
"A lot of the bears that are in Gatlinburg, they've been raised amongst trash," said Greico. "Their mothers grew up on trash and are raising them on trash, and the trash is the crux of this issue here. Because these bears learn to find food from trash."
One of the ways the city of Gatlinburg is trying to stifle bears is by installing bear-proof dumpsters.
City leaders recently invested around $3 million to install more than 400 dumpsters at local businesses.
The group said that it gets less orphaned cubs towards the end of the year, but they still urge people to be careful when coming face to face with the most recognizable animals in the Smokies.
TWRA said they recommend the public "haze" bears to discourage them from coming back to an area, including using rubber buckshot to discourage the animals.