Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter has begun its annual release of bears into the wild.
Last year, the shelter, located just east of Smithers on the Telkwa High Road, took in 32 black bear orphans and two grizzlies. The first three were released between Kitwanga and Houston last weekend.
Five more will be going out this weekend in the Fort St. John area and for the rest of the month, the Northern Lights team will be on the road.
鈥淲e鈥檒l go down towards Williams Lake and [release] bears there, then we have bears in the Prince George region, we have bears up in Telegraph Creek and Dease Lake, over to Jade City as well and then we need to go down to the Rosslyn and Castlegar area and then over to Cranbrook, so we鈥檙e all over B.C. in the next three weeks,鈥� said Angelica Langen, Northern Lights co-founder with husband Peter Langen.
WATCH: Video of 29 black bear orphans eating breakfast at Northern Lights Animal Shelter
The two grizzlies will be released in Bella Coola.
Angelica said 2018 was a fairly typical year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 becoming standard, between 30 and 40 bears every year, the most we had was almost 50 and we can take over 60, we have room,鈥� she said.
She explained the June release is based primarily on the natural cycle of cub weaning.
鈥淭hey always get released at about a year-and-a-half,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the mother kicks them off because she鈥檚 going to get bred again by a male and the male would be a danger to the cubs.
鈥淭his is the normal time when they鈥檙e genetically primed to be on their own. They鈥檙e teenagers now, so they can鈥檛 wait to move out from home.
鈥淭he other reason we try to do it at this time of year is because the adults are busy with each other; they鈥檙e less likely to hunt the young ones down so (the cubs) have four or five weeks to kind of get their bearing and get the hell out of the area if there鈥檚 a big boar around.鈥�
Finally, she said, the abundance of food at this time of year helps.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of food and bears do share, so if there鈥檚 lots of food around, again, there鈥檚 less chance of predation.
鈥淎ll around, it鈥檚 the best time for them to go out, the berries are coming now and there鈥檚 lots of greens, so they have a good chance of getting themselves settled and not lose a whole lot of weight.鈥�
Shelter workers also try to avoid putting the cubs into a tough situation.
鈥淥bviously when we drive in somewhere we don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 living there, but we look for signs of bear activity and we try to pick areas where we don鈥檛 see many signs, but [where there is] good food and water.鈥�
That doesn鈥檛 mean there isn鈥檛 sometimes trouble. Angelica said there have been cases when it looks like they鈥檝e found a safe drop-off spot and the next thing that happens is a big male will show up.
READ MORE: Saving a bear at Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing you can do about that,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll the areas are occupied and it鈥檚 normal for the young ones that they have to move.鈥�
June is also the busy time of year for rescues. So far in 2019, the shelter has taken in 10 black bear cubs and one deer fawn and Angelica is anticipating many more.
The main cause is traffic, she said.
鈥淭he primary reason why we get bears is highway or train collisions, I would say that鈥檚 about 75 per cent of the cubs we get come from those reasons.鈥�
The second most common cause is nuisance bears being shot.
鈥淲hen people leave their attractants out, and they don鈥檛 clean up their garbage and don鈥檛 like when the bear comes around and has an easy meal, then, if the calls keep coming in, the conservation officers, by law, have no other choice than taking out those bears and that then creates more orphans,鈥� she explained.
Consequently, now is also the most expensive time of year for Northern Lights and the push is on to bring in the donations.
鈥淲e鈥檙e totally funded by the public and by donations so we rely on getting these donations and that dictates how many bears we can take in,鈥� Angelica said. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 get the support, we have to reduce the numbers, because we have to look after them until next year, so I need to know that we can feed them and look after them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always this time of year, fundraising for the kilometres that we have to cover and then also for all these little guys that are coming in now, the milk is very expensive, like a bag of bear milk is about $145 and we鈥檒l go through a bag in a week-and-a-half.鈥�
There is also the expense of maintenance on the pens and structures.
鈥淲hen you have a 150-pound bear in there and you have 30 of them, they do a lot of damage,鈥� she said.
editor@interior-news.com
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