Bear escapes pen at Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary after fallen tree damages enclosure

Ashli Lincoln
·2 min read
4

It was a bear sighting that former Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary employee Jesse Worthey says he was surprised to see.

“She got right up next to the road, where we’re standing next to the people drive up and down,” Worthey said.

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Worthey told Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln a concerned friend called him Sunday evening after the friend drove by Noah’s Ark and saw a grizzly bear walking near the entrance behind a fence.

“The first thing I asked her was, ‘Was she sure it was a bear?’ And she said that she did a triple take because she couldn’t believe it was a bear,” he said.

The bear, whose name is Anna Lou, was able to get out of her housing pen. Jay Allen, the Operations Manager for Noah’s Ark, says they immediately mobilized after learning there was a bear on the loose.

He says they were able to corral Anna Lou into a new pen with oranges. He says after inspecting her original pen, Allen says heavy storms caused a tree limb to crash onto a fencing causing it to break apart.

Allen says Anna Lou was able to get out and walked several yards across the property. Workers say they followed protocol and notified the Georgia Department of Natural Resources about this incident. DNR representatives were at the sanctuary on Monday assisting employees.

“Any wild animal on the loose would bring concern to the public,” Allen said.

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Noah’s Ark management says this year the sanctuary has been hit hard by storms. In May, we reported on extensive damage that spring storms caused at the sanctuary. The facility is currently in the process of fundraising to remove several fallen trees.

“We would really like 40% of the trees in the habitat down,” Allen said.

Worthey says what’s more alarming is the bear was several feet away from a damaged section of the fence, that’s near a busy road.

“She was right up next to the road where the fence is currently not repaired yet,” he said.

Allen says last Friday a car crashed into the fence. The section has been replaced with temporary fencing to keep the area secure.

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