Bear Cub Release Program

A PROJECT OF:
NORTH ISLAND WILDLIFE RECOVERY ASSOCIATION

When NIWRA gets a call that a bear cub is coming there is a sense of excitement. When the cub arrives the visitors lucky enough to be at the center get to share in this excitement until the cub is taken into our treatment center. Once there the cub is weighed and checked and put into quarantine for 24 hours. If we have another cub at the center we can then begin to introduce them to each other.

Having two cubs makes rehabilitation and release easier. They have a buddy and cuddle up with each other. The plan is to raise the cubs with minimal human contact until they are old enough to be released back into the wild either this fall or next spring.

The cubs are fed a concoction of goat's milk, cottage cheese, puppy milk replacement and puppy chow, vitamins and rice pabulum four times a day until they are old enough to start eating more natural foods. This would include berries and fish - we often hide their food to make them hunt for it just as they would in the wild.

The bears are on closed circuit TV 24/7 for the public to view - because we want to release them back to the wild they must be kept away from all human contact.

_________________________________________________________

Victoria & Elizabeth - June 2008

On Victoria Day 2008 we received a young female cub who came in from Port Alice weighing just under 5 lbs. In honor of the day we named her Victoria. She was the lone bear cub for a few weeks until Elizabeth came to us from Port Alberni. They are being raised at the center and will be released - probably in the fall of 2009. They are currently in our nursery area and have bonded really well and it is a joy to watch them play together on our closed circuit tv.

_________________________________________________________

In 2006 we got a call about two bear cubs who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. A logging mishap in the Museum Creek area near Port Alberni brought these pair of 10 week old bears cubs (male & female) to the centre. They were holed up in the hollow of a tree waiting for their mother’s return when the tree was cut down by loggers who had no idea the cubs were inside

Island Timberland/Cascadia Forest Products, which subcontracts the loggers, arranged and paid for Strathcona Helicopters to fly the cubs to the centre. The cubs weighed in at 3 lbs and 3lbs. 13 oz. upon arrival.

This is the last picture taken of the cubs. They were about ten pounds in this picture but today they are well over twenty five pounds.

NIWRA has released twenty bears in the last ten years.

NIWRA is a non-profit organization which issues tax-deductible receipts for donations. If you would like to donate to this type of project, please call the centre at 250-248-8534 or send your donation to NIWRA, Box 364, Errington, BC V0R 1V0