Animal Stories: Bears and Beavers

Bear Releases

In the summer months here at Critter Care, we are busy releasing animals. One of the many species that get released at this time of year are our Black Bears! Our bears stay in care for up to 18 months, depending on the time of year they are admitted. Black bears give birth early in the year—around mid-January to February, when mother bears are still in their denning period.

We typically do not get any cubs of the year in January or February; however, it has happened before! We always release our bears at a year and a half old, as that is how long they typically stay with their mother. We typically hear about orphaned cubs during the late summer months into early fall, as this is when many start struggling for food.

The process of releasing bears is a bit more complicated than it is with the rest of our animals. This is due to the amount of people needed for a smooth release. As you can imagine, we cannot just put our bears into a kennel on release day like we can for many of our other animals. This is when the extra people come into play. We have our veterinarians arrive onsite for sunrise. They dart our bears one at a time using a specialized dart gun. Don’t worry, they have lots of practice in this! The gun is loaded with a sedative based on the estimated size of the bear. Once the bear is sedated completely, we have a team of 4–8 people ready to load the bear onto a tarp. Once we have the bear placed on the tarp correctly, we carry them out to our weighing scale. These bears can be quite heavy! As seen in the photo above, each bear is placed on the scale and weighed.

Our bear supervisors and veterinarians work together to complete a thorough health check as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence in this situation, as you never want an animal under sedation any longer than it needs to be. In a five-minute time frame, we will take the bear’s weight, temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, a skin biopsy, and a fur sample. It is important, even with us working as quickly as possible, that all this data is recorded for our records. We will then do a thorough but quick exam on the bear's general body condition, coat, paws, ears, eyes, and teeth. In the photo above, our head bear supervisor and one of our veterinarians are checking a bear’s teeth and mouth.

Once everything is done, the bear is loaded up into our release cage and receives a reversal injection to revert the sedative. The process is quick but straightforward, as everyone involved knows what to do and when! We are proud to say that all our bears released this year were extremely healthy. Although we never say where any of our animals get released, for their own sake, we can assure you that they all get a wonderful release area to kickstart their new lives.

Willow

If you have been receiving our newsletter since last fall, you are familiar with our first orphaned cub of 2023. He was captured at a mere 28 lbs and was given the name Willow as he frequently was seen perched at the top of a willow tree. Not long after receiving Willow, we received more orphaned cubs, three of which were integrated with him and soon formed a close bond. These four cubs became friends quickly and seamlessly. Certain cubs will integrate easily due to the desperate need for attention from their own species, as they have spent many months alone.

Other times we receive cubs that have settled on the fact that they will no longer have company after becoming orphaned. These ones just take a little more time and persuasion

and soon enough they join. Thankfully, for these four, they were the best of friends right away.

Spring came around quickly, and it became time for us to start organizing their releases. This process is very long and stressful. It uses up a large amount of time and takes a lot of brain power to figure out the logistics of merging many schedules so that everyone involved will be in attendance.

Our bear team, the provincial biologists, and our accompanying veterinarians endure a long week with very long days to ensure these bears are set up for success. This year we released a total of 18 bears! Exactly double the number we released last year! Willow is seen in this photo hanging on the right side of the tire structure! He has grown into such a beautiful bear. He is easily distinguished by his blonde eyebrows and light blonde muzzle! Keep an eye out for him in the vast BC wilderness.