The un-bearable holiday mystery surrounding the age and survival of a seemingly out-of-season, undersized but healthy bear cub recently rescued near Oro Valley continues.
Even after a visit Wednesday from a trained veterinarian, the wily cub’s age remains unclear.
“Honestly, we don’t have any more clear details even after having our vet look at him,” said Dave O’Connell, COO of Bearizona, Arizona’s the bear-centric wildlife rescue park in Williams that took in the young bruin.
“When we looked at it, the vet said, you know, he’s a healthy little bear.”
And now the rescued black bear has a name.
The staff at the bear’s new home named it Buddy, after the character played by Will Farrell in the Christmas movie “Elf.”
Buddy remains in quarantine.
Buddy, a black bear cub, rescued earlier this month in Oro Valley plays in a special quarantine enclosure at Bearizona, the wildlife park in Williams that is its new home. A vet examined the cub this week and said it is healthy.
It’s exceedingly rare for a bear cub of such small stature to be roaming around this time of year, especially alone, officials say.
Most bear cubs here are born during the height of winter, between December and January.
In theory then, any younger bear in the wild should be about a year old and about 70 pounds.
“The bear weighs 15 pounds, a 15-pound bear should be about four or five months old. The math doesn’t work,” Mark Hart, a spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said soon after it was rescued.
The vet noted Buddy is very comfortable around humans.
Perhaps too comfortable.
O’Connell said he couldn’t rule out the possibility someone near where the bear was found could have misguidedly taken in the bear, or fed it regularly.
“I hope that’s not the truth,” O’Connell said.
“It’s always possible that somebody tries to keep more exotic type animals as a pet, but dogs and cats make good pets. Goldfish make good pets.
Bears do not make good pets.”
The cub was rescued by the Arizona Game and Fish Department on Dec. 10 after it was first spotted by an Oro Valley homeowner in the foothills northwest of Tucson.
The homeowner shared a security camera image of the bear.
Buddy was safely captured the next day after seeking refuge in a mesquite.
