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This is a cub that IBBR wanted to help when the call came in from the field. We navigated between the concerned citizen who spotted the orphan, and the fish and wildlife agency, in this situation, that worked hard to capture this cub. However, cooperative efforts like this aren't always the case...All too often, wildlife agencies have their own policies and procedures regarding orphan cubs or human-bear conflict, and without the efforts of IBBR, cubs like this one, may continue to sit alone in the snow...
 Wildlife agencies generally do not consider adult bears as candidates for rehab. So, it was an unprecedented opportunity for IBBR to receive a 7 year old injured female and her yearling cub into our rehab program in February 2013. The mother's front leg was severely injured from a gunshot wound, she was extremely underweight, and was reaching the point that she was unable to successfully care for herself and her cub. After rehab care that included special diets for both mom and cub, medical treatment, and the opportunity for rest and recuperation, both mother and cub were successfully released back into their home range in Idaho.
A critical part of our efforts to affect positive change in the lives of individual bears and world-wide bear populations, is IBBR's participation at professional conferences, so that we can share bear-positive solutions to bear-negative situations.
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We are excited to announce that we have been invited to present at the upcoming 23rd International Conference on Bear Research & Management in Thessaloniki, Greece, and to consider presenting and participating in round-table workshops at the 12th Western Black Bear Workshop, Alberta Province, Canada (tentatively scheduled for May 2015). Participation at both conference gives us the unprecedented opportunity to make a positive impact on those dealing with issues affecting bears on both the global and continental stage.
We are appealing to you to support our efforts to effect long-term change in managing policies for bear populations worldwide.
Our platform includes...
- Ethical and science-based protocols concerning injured and orphaned bears need to be incorporated into wildlife agency regulations and management plans.
- Wildlife agencies should integrate the fluid nature and adaptive needs of bear rehabilitation when drafting policies and procedures meant to regulate bear rehabilitation.
- Bear rehabilitators should be a part of, and major contributor to, agency bear management policies as they affect bear rehabilitation.
- Black Bears can be successfully rehabilitated at facilities near an urban area.
- Consistent standards need to be developed to define conflict activity with appropriate response methodology.
Advancing Bear Care, Canada 2011
4th Human- Bear Conflict Workshop, Montana 2012
11th Western Black Bear Workshop, Idaho 2012
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