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.

Meet (some of) the animals

As I have limited internet access at the shelter, and limited time in town to devote hours to uploading photos, I haven't yet been able to deliver on my promise, made four months ago, of having lots of pictures of cute animal on this blog. This, however, is all about to change. I had some spare time today and the other volunteer was nice enough to drive me into town and I had a little bit of time to upload some pictures of the animals I am currently looking after. This is only a selection of those animals, hopefully in the future I will be able to share with you the rest of them.

First off Belle and Baby, the seven month old moose that I have been helping to raise since my first day here. They are now much bigger than in this photo. So much so that I struggle to give them their milk bottles now as I'm not the tallest of people.

Belle and Baby when they were still small enough to feed without standing on tippy toes

Belle being silly

Baby striking a pose

 Next up is one of my favourite animals at the shelter so far, Igor the European lynx. I have talked about him in a previous post. He was rescued by the SPCA (Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals) from a woman who was a collector of big cats. He arrived five years ago, extremely skinny and with sores on his paws. But he has since been tamed (as he is not releasable, being a non-native species) and is as playful as a young kitten.

Waiting for his daily scratch behind the ears

Patrolling his territory

 When I first arrived here there were two, unnamed, foxes. This one and an adorable black fox, who I couldn't get a picture of unfortunately. They were extremely shy and wary of people, which was ideal really as we didn't want them approaching anyone once they were released. They were both released a few months ago and I got the pleasure of opening the cage door to let this one go as the volunteers had been taking sole care of them.

Just a little camera shy

 As well as rehabilitating wild animals, there are a number of domestic pets that live here which I also look after and care for. This is Jasper, or Shapper as he is affectionately known, a Burmese mountain dog. He is extremely silly, loves cuddles and likes to think he is a lap dog, despite being the size of a small horse (Maybe a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture).

Am I beautiful?

Looking like the saddest dog in the world in the first snowfall

 There is also another dog, Tina, that we are currently looking after. She belongs to the father of the owner of the shelter, and while he is away, she has been moved to the shelter so we can take her for walks and feed her without having to drive over to her house.

In the kitchen lives Felix. A previously feral cat that the shelter took in after finding him at the vets surgery, Whilst he normally looks sullen and moody, he is actually quite playful and loves toys. His claws are pretty sharp though, as I have found out on many occasions.

The shelter also has a sister company in the form of a trail riding and summer camp business. They have approximately forty horses used for trail rides and horse summer camps for kids and teenagers. As well as volunteering for the shelter I also help with the trail riding side. During the summer I would help walk horses in, groom and get them prepared for the rides. I also feed the horses that need extra food every day. Here are just a few of the horses that I have come to know, however with forty on site, learning their names is proving to be quite a challenge.

This is Tonka who is, in my opinion, one of the prettiest horses here. I also got to ride him on my second trail ride.

Do I blend in?

Tonka and Ghost

 This horse is Ibis, a yearling, who along with Raven, another yearling, get fed every day. They are very sweet and gentle, however not the cleverest of horses. Raven especially likes to try and fit her foot in the food bucket, only for it to get stuck, meaning she has to try and eat her food around her foot as she is impatient and doesn't wait for use to help.

Pixi and Orion (another one of my favourites)

Pixi 

Now onto the bears. This past week we had another new bear arrive at the shelter from the island of Haida Gwaii. The island bears are known for being slightly larger than the mainland bears, so I am expecting her to grow up to be very big, as right now she is pretty tiny. She was found roaming around the airport with no mama bear in sight, so was caught and eventually sent to us. While she was waiting for the ferry over she managed to escape four times, earning her the name Zippy. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of her to upload, or of Trouble, Berwyn or Karhu. However I do have some rather cute pictures, all taken from the NLWS facebook page, of the other five

This is Benny, the first black bear of the season who arrived back in September. We gave the bears a bunch of cardboard as enrichment and they went crazy for it!

Polaris, a brown black bear, was rescued after getting stuck up a twenty five foot hydro pole for 2 days. She was a famous bear for a while, appearing in local news as people desperately tried to help, fearful that she might electrocute herself on the wires on the pole. Thankfully the power company shut of all the electricity and the conservation officer was able to get her down.

The next three are Pumpkin, Rascal and Shawn, triplets from Kamloops. Shawn was named before we had time to assess their genders, it turned out she was a girl, but we decided to keep the name as we thought it was kind of funny. As can be seen from the photos they each have quite a personality and love to have fun, however they, along with Benny, are hibernating right now so won't require our care again until they wake up next year.

The problem with 'problem bears'

BREAKING NEWS, THE SHELTER HAS BEARS!!

The whole shelter has been in an extremely happy and positive mood recently, on September 12th, we received the first black bear of the season from Prince George. Unfortunately the mother was hit by a car and left behind one cub which is now safely in our care. He is very healthy, has a large appetite and has settled into his enclosure extremely well. Later on the same day we received word that three more bears were on their way from a town called Kamloops and they also arrived here safely on the 14th. Their story is just as heartbreaking as the first bear's. Their mother was shot by a resident who believed she was approaching him. After the arrival of each bear I feel a bout of sadness as I learn of their backgrounds, and seeing them in the enclosures only reinforces the fact to me that they are orphaned. I know that they will be well looked after here though and I am greatly looking forward to watching them grow and be released next year.

The arrival of these bears does not just mean more work for the shelter though, it is also a much needed drive for donations. The shelter runs almost entirely on donations, and without any bears this important funding just hasn't been coming in. General maintenance of the shelter has huge costs, as well as the new enclosures that need to be built and preparing the already standing buildings for the winter also incurs large fees. Hopefully the arrival of the four cubs will boost donations and the work can continue.

Through working at the shelter I have learnt that many of the cubs we receive are orphaned as a result of their mother being killed after being deemed 'problem bears'. The issue with this however, is that problem bears are most often created by human ignorance and carelessness. Problem bears are not born with conflict on the brain, they are simply looking for food and a way to feed their cubs, and as bear and human territory is overlapping more and more with the ever increasing human population, these so called 'problem bears' are also on the rise as we continue to encroach on their feeding areas. Walking around town I have been shown areas that aren't 'bear aware'. Apples left lying on the ground by back gates, bins that are left open and are not bear proof. It is things like this that causes bears to approach towns, they are not looking for trouble, just food. Just last week, for example, I was shown a picture of two grizzlies 'raiding' a truck used by campers. Food was left out in the open in the back of the truck and they were parked under apple trees in known bear territory. This is not the fault of the bears, who were incidentally later euthanised for being 'problem bears', this is the carelessness of humans that has caused the death of two beautiful animals. I implore anyone reading this blog that lives in known bear habitat to learn how to reduce the availability of bear attractants to your property. It could save the lives of many bears.

On a final note the four bear cubs have yet to be named, and we are drawing a blank here at the shelter so if anyone has any ideas for names please let me know and I shall pass them on. Thank you :)

Fears and first days

I have arrived in Smithers safe and sound. However it was not the most enjoyable flight over. I have been on planes plenty of times before. I am no stranger to flying and have never, to my recollection, experienced anxiety inside an aeroplane. This time around however an inexplicable feeling of dread and fear built inside of me as the plane was moving to the runway. During take-off was the worst part, this strange feeling didn't relent and I found myself extremely agitated and upset about the ordeal. However now after having more time to compose myself and really think about what happened, I do not think it was fear. I have been planning this trip for nearly eight months, and I believe the shock of it finally being time to go, as well as the emotional farewell to my family and best friend at the airport had shaken me and what was masquerading as fear during the ascent was actually a mixture of a whole bunch of emotions that I can't begin to describe accurately. Thankfully the second flight on to Smithers was not as bad, and I arrived in what must be one of the smallest airports I have ever seen. It was literally one hall with check in, arrivals, departures and security all in the one room.

Anyway with all of that behind me, I was driven to NLWS. The shelter is deceptively large. What looked at first sight to be a small area with a main house and some cabins, actually extends well into the surrounding areas with the bear and moose pens further away up a hill. I was taken on a tour the morning after I arrived and met all of the animals currently at the shelter and learnt their stories.

The first animal I met was Igor the European lynx. Igor was rescued from a woman who was a collector of big cats. She had tigers and lynx all at her home and when Igor was brought to the shelter he was extremely skinny and emaciated. However looking at him now I would never have known this, he looks healthy and happy. Unfortunately he cannot be released into the wild, so instead of putting down a healthy animal he has been tamed, and lives a very nice life, in his own little area away from the main house. When I went up there today I was able to scratch behind his ears and he wanted to play with my shoes as I was walking! It was very surreal seeing a large lynx playing just like a little kitten.

Also at the shelter now are two foxes, some moose, two owls and Helena (a cougar that also cannot be released, however is not tame) and then all the small mammals such as the guinea pigs, rabbits and rats that are bred for food for the large carnivores. Unfortunately there are no bears at the shelter right now. This is the first time in 13 years they have no bears on the facility. Peter explained to me that there is currently a disease spreading around British Columbia that affects the liver, and it meant that a lot of the bears that went into hibernation last year didn't wake up in the spring. Each year around early summer the owners and volunteers at the shelter drive thousands of miles all over the province releasing the bears they have been caring for, and Peter also explained that is was very unusual this year, in that throughout all their travels, they didn't see one bear in the wild, which is very unnerving as there was a time when they could be seen very often.

The surrounding area is absolutely stunning, the shelter is located away from the town and has amazing views of the surrounding mountains, in fact from my bedroom window I have a clear view of the largest mountain and the glacier on it. I wish I could upload some photos however I have been told that internet usage works very differently here, and that uploading photos can increase the cost. Hopefully I can upload some in the future but for now I don't want to incur any unnecessary costs.

Introductions

Speaking as someone who has never organised any of my own travel plans, never travelled long distances alone, or even flown in an aeroplane by myself before, the thought of moving half way across the world, for a year, all by myself, is pretty terrifying. So why then, did I decide that moving to Canada, leaving all my friends and family behind, would be a good idea?

 Let me first start by introducing myself. My name is Christine and I am currently studying Wildlife Conservation at university and for my placement year I am interning at Northern Lights Wildlife Society in British Columbia, Canada.

 NLWS is a shelter dedicated to giving injured and orphaned wildlife a second chance at life, by rehabilitating them back to health, then re-releasing them back into the wild. Whilst the shelter admits almost all Canadian wildlife, it specialises in the rehabilitation of bears, and has successfully seen the release of over 200 Black, Grizzly and Kermode bears. What makes this feat even more incredible is that the whole organization is run by volunteers and funding comes from generous donations that provide a second chance to a whole variety of different species.

 Animals have always been a passion of mine, and I love to travel so it seemed obvious to me that for my placement year I wanted to work abroad. This will allow me to gain a wider cultural understanding of the world I live in, as well as having the chance to do what I love the most, which is helping and providing for animals. I am hesitant to leave my friends, family and of course, my beloved pet collie Jemma behind. However I know this is the start of what will be an incredible adventure, which will allow me to grow as a person and gain more confidence in my own capabilities.

There is a quote, by my favourite author, John Green, which rings truth with me and describes the effect; we humans are having on this planet,

“The marks humans leave, are too often scars”

 Studying wildlife conservation I see the scars that that humans have left on this world, all the time. I see the damage we have caused to ecosystems, to habitats that belong to an array of vulnerable species that are under constant threat due to human’s ever growing demands on this planet. Like most people I want to leave my mark on this world, but one which isn’t a scar, or even a blemish. I want to see healthy, happy animals returning to their natural habitat, and hopefully working at Northern Lights will allow me to do this.