An apple a day, they say, keeps the doctor away. A truckload of them turns out to be a delectable lunch for a troop of hungry bear cubs. That’s why the black bear cubs at Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire couldn’t control their delight when writer, producer, and animal enthusiast John Fusco dropped over a batch of apples for them to consume. Fortunately, Fusco captured footage of the juvenile rescues enjoying the apples he offered them. The bear cubs can be heard making an appealing sound that sounds nearly like purring as they eat the sweet, crunchy fruit in the video.
“Have you ever heard the’sound of contentment’ made by bear cubs?” When Fusco published the video on Twitter, he added a caption. The video rapidly went viral, garnering over 600,000 views and 25,000 likes since it was initially released. Even still, before they viewed the video, most people’s answer to that question was undoubtedly no. For a person to get that close to a bear cub in the wild is a rare—and most certainly life-threatening—opportunity. These cubs, on the other hand, are orphaned and are cared for at the renowned Kilham Bear Center until they are ready to be released back into the wild.
Rae Wynn-Grant, a conservation biologist and large carnivore ecologist, says, “They’re certainly in a healthy refuge.” “It’s only natural that they’d be cooing and telling us how wonderful they are.”
Donations like Fusco’s go a long way toward keeping the newborn black bear cubs happy and fed. And, based on their reaction to the present, it’s safe to assume that the lovely fluffy animals are grateful beyond words.
Apples are a favorite food of black bear cubs.
As they eat the reward, they produce an endearing purring “sound of satisfaction,” which you can hear in this video.
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