Once-doomed cub Boo Boo now at St. Louis Zoo

ST. LOUIS -- The 3-month-old bear cub that created a brief rabies scare after nipping St. Louis college students has a new home at the St. Louis Zoo.

Meanwhile, conservation officials are investigating how the bear was allowed contact with humans in the first place, in apparent violation of state law.

Zoo spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said Wednesday that Boo Boo will be kept out of public view for at least 30 days, quarantined while veterinarians perform various health-related tests and a nutritionist works with his diet.

"After that we'll evaluate where he belongs, either here at the zoo or at some other zoo that might want him," Gallagher said.

Boo Boo was part of a rural Missouri petting zoo brought to Washington University last week as stress relief during finals. Several students held and cuddled the small bear, which was born in captivity and raised at Cindy's Zoo in Moscow Mills, Missouri.

Boo Boo playfully bit and clawed some of the students who held him. The university's director of Student Health Services sent an email to students asking those who were nipped to come forward. Eighteen students eventually reported that their skin was broken, leading to concern about rabies.

Washington University officials said they were unaware a bear would be part of the experience.

The original plan was to euthanize the bear -- an animal has to be dead before it can be tested for the deadly disease. By Friday afternoon, the Missouri Department of Conservation had traced the bear's lineage, and state health officials were confident it could not have gotten rabies. The bear was spared.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees animal exhibitors like Cindy's Zoo, asked the zoo to help.

Gallagher said the bear will be checked for parasites, will have extensive blood work and other health tests, and will be supervised by a nutritionist.

"Basically we'll be giving him the proper nutrition, the proper care," Gallagher said.

The Conservation Department is investigating how the bear was allowed to have contact with humans, said Larry Yamnitz, chief of the protection division.

"The law does not allow human contact other than handlers if they have a permit," Yamnitz said. He cited state statutes and Missouri's wildlife code that prohibit contact with bears, mountain lions, wolves and venomous snakes.

"We have an open investigation to determine how the bear ended up where it was," Yamnitz said.

Cindy Farmer, owner of Cindy's Zoo, declined comment.