KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency issued a statement after making the decision to euthanize 13 bears from the Appalachian Bear Rescue.

They said two bears in the same enclosure had a similar disease this year. Those bears also shared a fence line with another enclosure, hence the potential of the disease spreading to that enclosure as well.

“Best management practices to prevent bears and other wildlife species from exposure to infectious pathogens prohibits releasing these bears into the environment. Once an infectious pathogen is introduced and becomes established in a free-ranging wildlife population it is nearly impossible to manage and from a precautionary standpoint, it is better to prevent disease introduction than address it after it is established even if the risk of disease introduction is low.”

TWRA officials said they consulted with University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee Institute for Agriculture, National Park Service and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. They did not include Appalachian Bear Rescue in that list.

TWRA said to prevent the spread of the disease and protect Tennessee’s wild bear population, they made the decision to euthanize the 13 bears.

“Holding these bears over winter in their current location increases their likelihood for habituation, dependence on humans, and additional stress, and would make them unsuitable for release in the spring, making it not a viable option in this case,” TWRA said. “Additional biosecurity measures will also be taken to clean the affected enclosure and protect other bears at the facility. This planning is currently underway.”

TWRA added that it is their job to manage the population to make sure conservation goals are met.

You can read their full statement below: