Young bear hides in tree for days after being scared by tigers at Apopka animal sanctuary

APOPKA, Fla. — A young bear has found itself in a predicament after wandering into an animal sanctuary over the weekend.

The bear was discovered Saturday night in a tree over a tiger enclosure at the C.A.R.E. Foundation in Apopka.

A worker discovered the bear after he noticed the tigers in the enclosure underneath the tree kept staring up.

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On Monday morning, the bear was still high up in the tree, lounging on a branch, all while the tigers kept a watchful eye.

"It's petrified," said Christin Burford, director and founder of the Care Foundation. "It keeps looking down and the tiger keeps looking up and yeah, I think it wants to come down, but it's not too sure if that's a good idea."

By midafternoon, the bear slowly moved down the tree but was still too afraid to make an escape off into the woods.

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came out to assess the situation and decided not to tranquilize the bear to get it out of the tree. They believe it will eventually come down when it is hungry or thirsty.

An FWC spokesperson said they will have to monitor the bear and its demeanor as it remains in the tree to determine if they need to come back out to remove it with a tranquilizer.

They do believe it is old enough to be out on its own once it comes down, but they didn't rule out that its mother could be looking for it.

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