Orphaned Alberta bear cubs spared death

Just in time for the end of hibernation season, Alberta will now allow wildlife rehabilitation centres to take in orphaned black bear cubs.

The new policy announced Wednesday gives Fish and Wildlife officials the option of placing orphaned cubs less than a year old with an approved wildlife rehabilitation centre.

Under a ban that had been in place since 2010, orphaned bears have been euthanized or sent to zoos. The government’s move was applauded by wildlife rescue advocates, who had long called for the ban to be reversed.

“If a bear is orphaned tomorrow, we can receive them now,” said Lisa Dahlseide, education director at the Cochrane Ecological Institute. “Yesterday, they would have been killed.”

Dahlseide estimates the change will likely mean five to 10 cubs a year being received at the Cochrane institute and other facilities across the province, though the province puts the number of orphaned black bears between two and five yearly.

There are nine wildlife rehabilitation centres in Alberta, though the government said it isn’t certain yet how many will take black bear cubs.

The new policy includes a draft protocol setting out the centres’ requirements regarding feeding the animals, provision of physical space, veterinary care and the kinds of interactions the bears will have with humans.

Wildlife officials will work with facilities to ensure bears can be returned to the wild.

“Alberta’s orphaned-black-bear policy is based on the best available scientific research, modern rehabilitation practices, compassion for these animals and the safety of people,” Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips said in a news release.

“We want black bear cubs to grow up and thrive in the wilds of Alberta.”

The government announced a review of its ban on rehabilitation for black bears in 2017 after the discovery of three orphaned black bear cubs in a Banff National Park washroom a year ago. They were sent to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario, because no Alberta facilities were permitted to take them.

The bears, which came out of their winter den on April 11, are set to return to the national park this year.

Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager with Banff National Park, said it’s hoped the cubs will be back in Alberta by June or July.

“It’s weather dependent,” he said in a recent interview. “We’ll see how things go that way, in terms of timing.”

The government had originally suggested a potential change in policy by April 1, the start of black bear hunting season, but missed that deadline. It is illegal to hunt black bear cubs or mothers with cubs.

Dahlseide said that while the government has changed its policy around black bear cubs, a prohibition remains on rehabilitating orphans from other large species such as grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

She’s hoping the next step for the province is lifting that ban. A demonstration will be held outside Calgary City Hall on Saturday between 3 and 7 p.m., calling on the government to make that change, she said.

Travis Ripley, the provincial parks department’s executive director of fish and wildlife policy, said the government is “definitely taking under consideration” making changes to the rehabilitation bans that are in place for some large wildlife species.

He said the government is interested in working with the wildlife rehabilitation centres to develop protocols for those prohibited species.