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We are in the process of developing an education program for the web site. Teachers or children's organizations interested in sharing information about bears and bear rehab can send us their e-mail address below. We will let you know when this program is online.

Locally, we offer educational seminars to schools, church groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, Special Ed classes, Department of Corrections, Special Olympics, and a variety of children's organizations. However, the welfare of the bears always comes first. Exposure to people must be limited since these bears will be released. We accomplish that by offering educational opportunities while the cubs are under 5 months old. Beyond that age, we can also offer educational programs on a limited basis. It depends on the stage of development the bears are in and their behavior, both individually and as a group. Other circumstances such as new arrivals, sick or injured cubs dictate when we offer these education programs locally. In 2000, we added three large one way mirrors to the front side of the main enclosure. Kids can then watch the bears during the seminar, but the bears can't see the kids.

WSPA and IBBR jointly created two Bear Education Trunks for use by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. They contain information on bears, videos, books, and tools to aid teachers in educating kids about bears. These trunks are sent out by Idaho Fish & Game to schools throughout Idaho. If your school is located in Idaho and you are interested in the bear trunk, call the Idaho Fish and Game Nature Center at (208) 287-2900. Contact us for additional information if your state doesn't have a similar education tool and you are interested in helping develop one for use in your state.

We encourage interested teachers or children's organizations in other areas or states to contact us. We will be happy to discuss opportunities to share the rehab experience with kids of all ages. Whether it's adopting one cub as a class project or the whole group as a school or organization project to help raise funds for the orphans, we will work with you to create a program designed to fit your needs. We can participate in a session of questions and answers via a conference call with the classroom, provide updates and pictures, and identify ways to involve the students. Of course, what we can do depends on the bears we have and the time of year. Much of the time the bears are with us is during the summer when schools are not in session. During that time we can direct our focus more towards children's organizations.

The IBBR rehabilitation handbook outlines the rehab process and is updated frequently. We provide this handbook free of charge to wildlife agencies, bear biologists, wildlife rehabilitators, etc. The handbook is also available for download on this web site. IBBR filmed video as a companion to the handbook. WSPA edited the video and produced a DVD on the various methods used to rehab orphaned cubs. That DVD is now available to other bear rehabilitators. For a copy contact WSPA at: http://www.wspa.org.uk/ or http://www.wspa-usa.org.  Also see the professionals corner for a download of a companion document on the various rehab techniques by John Beecham, PHD. He visited other rehab facilities and documents the various methods used to rehab orphaned bear cubs.

 In 2007 WSPA provided funding to purchase our video monitoring system. We currently have seven cameras on two enclosures with options to add more in the future. Capitol Computer Services is diligently working to bring the video to our web site. It’s uncertain if we can do live streaming video or will have a 24 hour delay. Either way, the video on our web site will enhance our education program in
very exciting ways. Through a video feed to our web site, a 7th grader in Indiana, a student at Washington State University, a biologist in Greece, a wildlife rehabilitator in Canada, a bear project in South America, or a wildlife manager in Pennsylvania can all monitor the cubs growth, behavior, and various stages of development while the orphaned cubs are in the rehab program.