An estimated 9-10 months old, she was near starvation, weighing only about 10 pounds. Colleen's mother was probably shot. According to the citizen's complaint filed with the police, the cub was living in a tree, coming down only to eat. She was sold to a man who was said he was creating a tourist center where people could come to see wild animals.
For now, the prescription for little Colleen is sugar water, as well as the fruits that are a usual part of the bear's diet. When Colleen is released from the veterinary clinic she will go to the Santa Marta Rescue Center. There she will learn to eat the foods that are available in the forest, make tree and ground nests, and survive in a home that includes all the characteristics of the forest. She apparently was not treated as a pet, and is very aggressive, which bodes well for her chances in liberation. Eventually we believe that she will live again in the forest from which she was snatched as a baby.
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