Three bear cubs that lost their mother after the animal charged an Anmore man in early August are being well cared for in a large enclosure with lots of places to play and hide and even a pool to swim in.
Critter Care in Langley is looking after the so-called Anmore bears - they've been named Keeton, Kody and Karsten - until they can be released next spring. So far, the bears have been adapting well since their initial shock, said executive director Gail Martin, and their prognosis is good.
Ten years ago, their future would not have been so rosy.
Prior to 2000, orphaned bear cubs were typically euthanized, a method seen as more humane than releasing them back into the wild. But after a public outcry in response to the euthanizing of an orphaned bear cub found living in a dumpster in Chilliwack, the Ministry of Environment struck a committee to look into alternatives.
Since then, the BC Conservation Officer Service routinely places orphaned bear cubs in rehabilitation facilities if the young bruins are healthy and haven't been on a garbage diet for too long. Over the years, dozens of orphaned bear cubs have been saved and released back into the wild, including 30 last year.
But these bears haven't been monitored to see if they survive and thrive in the wild after living in an enclosure and being given food, albeit mostly natural food, for several months.
"We'd love to do it but it's difficult and expensive," explained Mike Badry, wildlife conflict manager for the Conservation Officer Service.
Rehabilitating orphaned bears is now part of the protocol for dealing with problem bears after the Orphaned Bear Cub Review committee recommended the procedure as an option.
Badry said conservation officers refer bears to well-established rehabilitation centres that have safe and secure procedures for looking after the animals without habituating them to humans. Critter Care is one such agency but he said the government provides no funding for their care.
"It's not a conservation issue," he said. "The black bear populations are healthy and we have no reason to supplement the bear population. This is really a social issue."
While it's not known whether young bears survive once they are relocated to the wild or are pushed out and left to starve by older, established bears, many people who work with the animals believe no news is good news. Giving the bears a second chance is better than the alternative, Critter Care's Martin says.
"Not too often we hear about the cubs we release and to me that is good. I think if you don't hear about them, they are not in trouble."
Every precaution is taken so as not to make the bears comfortable and dependent on humans, she said. While food is provided for them, including grasses, skunk cabbage and wild berries in spring, the bears are mostly left alone to play, have several choices for denning, such as lean-to dens, large tunnel dens, a shed den and a large den if they want to sleep together, and a large part of their time at Critter Care is spent hibernating.
When they leave the centre, usually at the beginning of June, after gaining more than 100 pounds since the previous summer, they are ready to fend for themselves.
Martin believes nature will take over and the bears will do just fine back in the forest.
"Not all will survive, just like they don't in the wild. As for me, I think about all the animals that I have rehabbed in 28 years, some more than others. But I know we have done the best job possible and we have to give them the credit they were born with."
It costs $5,000 a year to rehabilitate an orphaned bear cub. To support the care of the Anmore bears, visit www.crittercarewildlife.org.
