Province lifts ban on rehabbing orphaned black bear cubs

Orphaned black bear cubs have been given a reprieve by a new provincial policy that allows for them to be rehabilitated.

The new policy reverses a ban that's been on the books since 2010.

Lisa Dahlseide, a wildlife biologist with the Cochrane Ecological Institute, says that ban resulted in the euthanizing of at least 24 black bear cubs, according to data collected from a report released in 2015.

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Dahlseide described the change in policy as "wonderful news" in a Wednesday interview on The Homestretch.

"[The change has been] a long time coming for black bear cubs," she said. "It really is good news, because no longer will the Alberta government be euthanizing them."

Instead, orphaned black bears under 12 months of age can be rehabilitated at places likethe CochraneEcological Institute, or any other wildlife rehabilitation centreacross the province that has approved facilities for bear cubs.

The rehabilitation process involves a combination of human interaction, and teaching it how to survive without people involved.

"Generally they come andthey're very small," Dahlseide said."They're still drinking milk, becausethey're mammals. And so what happens is it's verylimited exposure with people they only have onehuman that interacts with them to give them the bottle. As soon as they are done with bottle feeding, then that human interaction is done with as well."

Adding water features to enclosures

At theCochraneEcological Institute,Dahlseidesaid orphaned bears stay in large enclosures ranging from sixto 20acres which are full of native food, as well as trees and other interactive things to give them exercise and learn to get fed without relying on people.

"There's a lot that goes into rehabbing them to avoid habituation and food conditioning," she said.

The institute is currently raising funds, through donations,to add water features to each enclosure, which is part of the requirements for the new government protocol.

"That's actually a really good thing for the bears,"Dahlseidesaid."Hopefully those water features can be stocked with fish, so they can get that experience."

Other bears and other species not included

The new policy does not apply to orphaned grizzly bears, which are still euthanized a policy that Dahlseide says is wrong-headed.

"Science has actually shown there are no known negative human conflicts with grizzly bears, post-relief," Dahlseide said. "Other places in the world do rehabilitate them successfully so I'm hoping the provincial government will be considering them andhopefully including them in the bear protocol as well."

She pointed to the research of naturalist Charlie Russell, who has done extensive studies of grizzlies, Dahlseide said there's no reason for people to be afraid.

"His research with bears hasproven that bears are not an animal that really needs to be feared. If we trust them, they'll trust us as well."

'No evidence, data or science to support those bans'

The list of orphaned animals banned from rehabilitation is not confined to grizzlies, either, Dahlseidesaid, adding "and again, the province has no evidence, data or science to support those bans. So we want to see that lifted for all species."

Rallies are planned on Saturday in Calgary and Edmonton,calling for the lifting of the ban on all orphaned animals.

The Calgary rally takes place at Municipal Plaza, next to city hall, between 3 and 7 p.m.

"We wanted to show our support for the grizzly bears, the foxes, coyotes, wolves, bighorn sheep, and elk the list goes on and on," Dahlseide said. "All the animals that the province currently doesn't allow for rehabilitation."

With files from The Homestretch

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