Born to be Wild

So before I get onto the really, really good news I should probably tell you all about the two new additions to the shelter.

A few days ago we got a call about two tiny cubs that had been seen alone in the Cranbrook area, which is right in the south of BC, near the US border. Someone went to check it out and they found the cubs in extremely bad shape. They were so small and weak that they could easily be picked up and put in a transport box with no fighting or anything. The female, Jo, weighed 5lbs and the male, Fisher weighed 6lbs. For comparison, Norman who is the same age and still a little underweight weighs 15lbs. They saw a vet as soon as possible and were deemed to be starving, dehydrated and if they hadn't have been found when they were, they most likely wouldn't have survived the night.

From there an intricate mission started to get them to the shelter. We first tried to arrange to get them on a flight straight to Smithers as this would be the quickest way to get them here. However it was a long weekend and the guy in charge who we needed to agree to transporting bears wouldn't be back in the office for another three days and that just wouldn't do. Driving to Cranbrook is a trip that could take anywhere between 15 and 20 hours so we put out a message asking for help and we got several people to drive the bears north so we could meet them in the middle.

It was a huge group effort and the bears are here now. They are eating, but it is clear they have a long way to go. They are severely underweight and I haven't heard one sound come from either of them, which is very unusual.

Jo (left) and Fisher (right) enjoying some milk.

In other (happier) bear news Norman is doing great, we had to move him out of his hospital pen to make room for Jo and Fisher. He protested a bit at first, refusing to drink his milk, instead opting to flip the bowl over and make a mess. He screamed and generally caused trouble until we dragged in a huge hollow log and that seemed to mellow him out a bit. He sits inside there for hours on end, quite content with his new home.

Norman, enjoying his new bed

Finally just a few days ago we released our first black bear, Berwyn. When he arrived at the shelter way back in October he weighed only 40lbs. Unfortunately he didn't gain enough weight to successfully hibernate through the winter, but he steadily grew and when we weighed him a few hours before release, he was up to 106lbs! We drove up into a provincial park, in the same region as where we found him. Along the way we saw two wild black bears, two moose and grizzly tracks, pretty good for a 2 hour drive. Then when it came to release we opened the box and he ran out, ready to explore and continue his life where he is meant to be - In the wild. It was a very emotional experience, having seen him come in as a tiny little bear, taking his little paw prints a few weeks after arriving. I took his paw prints again on release day and they are now as big as my hand. As he ran out of the box i'm not even ashamed to say that I was crying, happy tears of course, but crying all the same. I have suggested that a box of tissues become part of the release kit as i'm sure that i'll be crying on other releases I get to go on.

Bye Berwyn!

Norman the bear

Spring has sprung at the shelter, all the snow has completely disappeared, the sun is shining, and occasionally the rain comes pelting down, but being from England i'm pretty used to this and always receive some weird looks when i'm feeding animals in my rain coat insisting that it's 'just water, calm down'.

With spring comes baby animals so we are busy preparing for the baby season which starts next month. However we did receive a very cute guest a few days ago.

Meet Norman.

Norman is a baby black bear around 3 months in age. He was found alone in the Penticton region of BC which is around 650 miles south of where the shelter is. He was transported up to us and currently resides in the hospital pen where he is doing very well.

Norman is in relatively good shape, if a little underweight. For comparison the three cubs we looked after in March, despite being a month younger, weighed more then Norman when they arrived. These bears are good examples of what the prime weight should be, as they have (except for one night) never been separated from their mother. The fact that Norman weighs less than them and is around the same size could be cause for concern. However he is very active has been put on a diet of milk, porridge and apples.

Did I mention that he is also too cute for words? He has two cuddly toys for comfort and watching him play fight with them, or attack pieces of straw is adorable. He shows that straw who's boss. In the hospital pen there is a shelf around a meter of the ground. Norman, despite being tiny, somehow managed to climb his way up onto the shelf, only to then get stuck and was unable to get down without help. He kept doing this until we eventually made a ramp so he wouldn't get stuck anymore. Only now that there is access to the shelf he suddenly isn't as interested in going up there any more. Typical man.

Norman will stay in the hospital until he gains weight and starts eating more solid food once he is off the milk and big enough he will eventually be transported to one of the outside pens up on the hill, where he will continue to hopefully gain weight and be monitored until it is time for release in just over a years time.

The time we saved a whole family of bears.

So a while ago something absolutely incredible happened here at the shelter. I put off posting about it because I was afraid that if something went wrong or if it didn't all go according to plan I would have to make a very sad follow up post. However now that it's all over and everything turned out ok I think I can share the experience.

On March 9th we got a call at the shelter asking if we had room for 3 bear cubs. Black bear cubs are all born at the end of January or beginning of February which would have made these cubs around a month old. Of course the answer was an immediate yes, but we weren't quite expecting what followed. We were asked if along with the cubs we could take their 275lb mother! That was a first for the shelter. 

It turns out that the den of the bears had been disturbed and woken the mother bear up. It was close to a residential area and could have been dangerous. The conservation officer wanted to try and save all the bears so asked if we could take them all. We couldn't turn them down.

However as it turned out tranquilising a fully grown, adult bear was more difficult than expected. The CO managed to eventually knock her out, only she was in a tree at the time and got stuck. They had to fell the tree in the end and then we picked up the bears and drove them back to the shelter.

Because of the whole ordeal of getting mum out of the tree we would have to assess for injuries, so the cubs had to be separated for a while. Since they were so young and they can't go more than 10 hours without milk this meant that for one evening we had to bottle feed. Cue me, sitting at the kitchen table at 1am, with a tiny 3lb cub sitting on my lap trying to get it to drink milk from a little bottle. I am not hesitating when I say it was the most adorable sight I have ever seen. I placed the cub on the ground in order to reheat the milk and I kid you not the cub stumbled around in the cutest way ever. They could barely hold themselves up at this age and I nearly melted at the sight. We then had to repeat this process again at 6am before it was established that mum was fine and they could all be transported up to our grizzly enclosure where hopefully they would fall back asleep for a while.

In order to protect the cubs from the harsh cold wind we carried them up after mum had been placed in the den (still tranquilised). I then rubbed the cub I had all over the mother's fur in order to cover up the human smell. We also rubbed vapor rub on the mother bears nose to further disguise the human scent. Finally we helped the cubs latch onto their mum so they could nurse and the happy sounds they made whilst drinking I don't think I will ever forget. Again, I was standing in a den with an adult bear and her three cubs. It was quite surreal to say the least!

Thankfully the bears stayed in the den and in hibernation for a few more weeks before we saw any activity. It wasn't long after that the CO's returned and we could transport them back home. An area was found where they would be away from people and hopefully undisturbed. Before leaving we once again weighed the cubs and checked over the mum. All bears were alive and well and the cubs had even gained weight. A trap was set right outside the artificial den in our enclosure and we didn't have to wait long before mum came out and we were ready to go.

They were released a few weeks ago with ear tags and a radio collar and we can do no more now other than hope that they will make it.

I feel so extremely grateful to have been part of something this incredible. We saved the lives of an entire family of bears, and even though I left covered with scratches (bear cubs have wicked sharp claws) it was all worth it in the end.