One of the bear cubs rescued in early February from a construction site in Peterborough has died, according to Kilham Bear Center, the rehabilitation center that took the cubs in.
The littlest of the three bears, Fitz, died of pneumonia last Friday, according to Ben Kilham, who runs the center.
The three bears were rescued after construction workers disturbed a bear den during a construction project on Old Dublin Road in Peterborough. New Hampshire Fish & Game officials determined that their mother would not return for them, and took them to Kilham, who reported at the time that all three were in good health.
“He was underweight,” said Kilham of Fitz. “He was about half the weight of his sisters.”
His sisters, Willa and Billie, took to feeding much more easily than Fitz and did not exhibit the same problems that he did, according to Kilham. The little bear would have difficulty with regurgitating milk, and the center had to modify how they fed him and took care of him.
“He had difficulties right along, and then at the very end, he got lethargic,” Kilham said, adding that these are signs of pneumonia and that he likely inhaled milk due to his difficulties with swallowing.
Throughout this process, Kilham said the center had veterinarians look at him and try to help, but ultimately, there was not much they could do.
“He went very quickly,” Kilham said. “Neonates are very hard, if something goes wrong, it’s very hard to do something about it.”
The center posted about Fitz’s passing on its Instagram account, announcing his death “with broken hearts” and saying that he will be “sorely missed.”
“He was a sweet, gentle cub full of mischief and merriment who kept his sisters on their toes and who brought joy to all that were privileged to take care of him and meet him,” the post read.
“It’s always hard,” Kilham said. “We are attached to them, just like anybody else. It’s always a loss.”
The remaining two bear cubs are doing well, Kilham said, and are not showing any signs of the difficulties that Fitz experienced.
“They’re really strong and feisty, and doing extremely well,” he said. “They’re just little bulldozers.”