|
 |
April
18 , 2008
Our vehicle issue has become VERY
urgent. The release and rescue time is fast approaching
and despite of all our efforts throughout the
winter we are no closer to a solution then we
were in the fall. We have now started a fundraising
campaign to purchase a vehicle. Your support is
would be greatly appreciated.
Plans for the grizzly release early this summer
are in full motion. Our first Intern to follow
the cubs arrives from Germany this month and is
busy assisting with the necessary planning for
the post release monitoring. He will be joined
by a second Intern here from BC in June. Both
will monitor the cubs via GPS until hibernation
and will visit sites, previously used by the bears
to determine their feeding pattern. The GPS monitoring
will ensure that they visit only such sites that
have been abandoned by the bears, so no further
human contact will occur.
|
Suzy our first grizzly at her arrival last
year (left) and now at 150lb+ (right) ready to go back
out into the wild!
Pictures courtesy of Peter Langen
|
|
|
January 17 2008
Two new cubs made it to our doorstep this week. Uggie
(left), had crawled through Kerry Anne McKenzie cat
door and helped itself to some cat food. He was lucky
to have chosen a sympathetic house as Keery Anne recognized
his desperate need for food and set out to have him
rescued. With the help of conservation officer Darcy
McPhee the cub was caught and as shipping arrangements
were made a second cub was found at Ruth Lake and joined
Uggie on its trip to Smithers. The second cub, which
needs yet to be named, is in worse body condition then
Uggie, but is also expected to recover completely. |
January 14th, 2008
With the imminent arrival of two new cubs, Frank graduated
to the big outdoor pen. As you can see he has gained
a fair amount of weight and is now a healthy little
cub. He settled in quickly into his new surroundings
and has claimed one of the sleep boxes for himself.
|
 |
We are happy to report that Frankie is recuperating
well. His status has stabilized and he is now eating
well and even getting a bit pushy, when his meal is
late. |
|
 |
December
19th 2007
A new cub has arrived and is,
as you can see, in pretty rough shape. Weighing in at
only 15 lb he/she is severely underweight and was actually
dying when found. We are slowly trying to restore the
system, but the cub has problems to digest the food.
However the little one is a real fighter and we are
hoping that in the end he/she will be okay.
Check back for updates in a few
days! |
December
14th 2007
A new cub is on its way to the
shelter. Last night we received a call from Williams
Lake where a family had found the starving animal in
a field, caring enough to pick it up and bring it home,
they saved the animals life. They contacted us and today
we where able to reach Fish and Wildlife officials and
get permission to rehabilitate the cub. Bandstra Transportation
Systems once again came to the rescue and the cub is
currently on its way to Smithers.
It takes more the a shelter to
safe an animal often a host of caring individuals are
involved to make it happen, thanks to all of you! |
 |
 |
December
5th, 2007
Peter Langen holds a sleepy Casper after
he has been tranquilized to receive his identifying
lip tattoo. All our bears are tattooed to allow identification
at all times.
After the Tattoo Casper sports some
green from the color used.
Lucy the little Black Bear Lady has become Casper’s
friend. The two cubs cuddle for warms in their den during
our recent cold weather.
Both cubs are eating well and gaining
weight and are expected to make a full recovery |
 |
 |
Photos taken by: Peter Langen |
Johnny (left) watches
as his friend Suzie (below) entertains herself with
a new toy she found.
Johnny is still a bit shy, but is settling
in well and he and Suzie have come to a comfortable
living arrangement with her being the Alfa bear. Suzy
is extremely intelligent and is always looking for something
to do. |
   |
 |
November
2007
We have a new guest!
This young Kermode cub (or Sprit Bear as they are commonly
known) was sighted without a mother in Terrace BC on
Saturday. The body condition of the cub suggests that
he has been without a mother for a while and he was
certainly in need of rescue. Local Conservation Officers
made a first attempt at capture on Saturday afternoon
near the Back Eddy Pub in Terrace, but the cub managed
to escape their valiant efforts. A trap was set and
overnight the cub gave in to the tantalizing smells
of meat coming from the trap. Angelika took yet another
road trip and the cub is now safely resting in the isolation
unit. Though quite underweight and VERY dirty, the cub
is expected to make a full recovery with some rest and
good feeding.
Help us find a name for
him, e-mail your suggestion to cub@png.canwest.com |
 |
 |
Once safely delivered to the shelter isolation unit
Johnny enjoys his first meal in his new home. The
green color on his face comes from the dye used to
apply a lip tattoo for the purpose of future identification
and will disappear in a few hours.With this second
cub we now have an even better chance to gather the
much needed data to prove that rehabilitation of grizzly
cubs is possible. Please consider donating towards
this great project, as we now need an additional $
10 000 for Johnny’s post release monitoring.
|
 |
 |
On Sunday Nov 11 we received a report that a young
grizzly was orphaned near Prince George about a week
ago, when his mother was hit and killed by a big truck.
On Monday morning at 4 am Angelika left Smithers to
rescue the cub. Weather conditions where extremely
poor and driving was a slow process due to poor visibility
and fresh snow and slush. The site at Purden Lake
was finally reached at 11.30 am. Angelika searched
for the cub but found no sign of it. Repeated conversations
via phone with the people that reported the cub, narrowed
down the site location but still no bear. Mario, one
of the people that had been looking out for the cub
left Valmont (a 2 ½ hour drive) to assist in
the search. At 2pm Angelika finally sited the cub
digging for roots at the side of the road.
|
Wildlife Veterinarian Helen Schwantje assisted from
Victoria and connecting with Gary VanSpengen a Prince
George Conservation officer, who promised his assistance
in the capture. While waiting for Gary’s arrival
Mario arrived and him and Angelika held vigil beside
the road. The weather turned from bad to worst, strong
winds and driving rain had Angelika and Mario worried
that the cub would seek shelter in the nearby wooded
area. Luckily Gary arrived in time and a well placed
shot with the tranquilizer gun send the little cub,
named Johnny by Mario and his friends, into the land
of dreams. |
 |
 |
At All Mobile Veterinary Clinic in Prince George
Johnny received the once over to ensure he had taken
no harm in the capture. By this time it was to late
to return to Smithers and Angelika and Johnny stayed
over in Prince George continuing their journey home
the next morning.
|
|  |
November 1, 2007
The second part of the enclosure is well underway.
We hope to have the project completed by mid of November.
|
|
October 29, 2007
The first part of the enclosure is complete and part two
has begun. |
 |
|
October 26, 2007
The first section of the new enclosure has taken shape
by the end of this week. Fortunately the snow has stopped
falling and work
(though very muddy) can progress at
a reasonable pace.
|
October 22, 2007
Unfortunately our first day of snow coincided with
the start of our building project, emphasizing the need
for haste in order to complete the project before winter
sets in earnestly. Today the heavy machinery tore into
the ground around the existing bear enclosures. The
bears hid most of the day in their dens. We enclosed
their facility to eliminate their view of the working
crew and to minimize the noise impact. The first pole
was in the ground by the end of the day! |
 |
 |
September 2007
Thanks to grants from IFAW (International Fund for
Animal Welfare), The Vancouver Foundation and The Public
Conservation Trust Fund, we are now starting the enlargement
of the bear facility. The three step project will connect
the current facilities with each other with two separate
enclosures, adding 2200 square feet of space for needy
cubs. Phase 3 scheduled for the fall of 2008 will add
additional 8800 square feet. |
August 2007
Siblings Joe and Jolene have joined Suzy and Tony.
All bears get along well with each other. Suzy is dominating
the pack, but she interacts well with the others. |
 |
 |
July 17, 2007
Suzy and Tony have become best friends and spend hours
on end playing with each other. |
July 3, 2007
After much discussion it was decided to socialize Suzy
and Tony. This picture (taken by volunteer Ruth Fitzell)
captures their first encounter. Both bears are curious,
but cautious. |
 |
 |
July 2, 2007
We recived two cubs from Vanderhoof today. The male
and female siblings are very skinny and scared. |
 |
July 1, 2007
Suzy has settled in well and though still a bit depressed
after loosing her mother and sibling, she seems to get
used to her new home. Discussions are underway to socialize
her with our black bear, to give both bears the opportunity
to have a playmate and encourage them to not focus on
the human caretakers. |
June 25, 2007
We received a call from the Dawson Creek Conservation
office that one orphaned grizzly cub was captured and
that transportation to our shelter was needed. NLWS
Director Carolyn Sawyer accompanied Angelika Langen
on the 10 hour one way trip. The bear was picked up
in Dawson Creek and arrived at the Shelter on June 26th.
The female cub is a bit underweight, but shows a good
appetite and seems to be otherwise healthy. |
 |
Grizzly Pilot Project
In the spring of 2007 negotiation with the BC Ministry
of Environment showed success, when it was agreed that
a pilot project to explore the feasibility of grizzly
cub rehabilitation. Though grizzly cubs have been raised
and released in BC before ( 2 female cubs by Hillspring
Wildlife Rehab Centre in Dawson Creek in 1999, 4 cubs
by Hillspring Wildlife Rehab Centre in Dawson Creek
in 2006 and 1 cub by Helen Jameson near Nelson in 2006)
official acceptance of this practice is lacking, as
no post release monitoring was done to prove that cubs
survived and integrated into the wild population. NLWS
with the support from IFAW (International Fund for Animal
Welfare) has been in negotiation with the BC Government
for some time and is looking forward to facilitate this
pilot project.
Aim of the project:
To provide orphaned cubs with a safe and species oriented
environment to grow up, until they are old enough to
be released back into the wild
To monitor cubs after the release to answer questions
in regards to their surrvival rate, possible human/bear
conflict situations and their ability to fit into the
wild population.
To gather valuble information about grizzly behavior,
nutricional needs, medical treatment and facility requirements
The results of the project are to be used as a future
foundation to create sustainable rehabilitation standarts
for grizzly cubs.
|
History
of NLWS Involvement in Grizzly Rehab Attempts
December 2005/January 2006
NLWS was approached by Parks Canada to rehabilitate
two orphaned grizzly cubs from Alberta. Despite the
willingness of NLWS to accept the cubs immediately the
project got buried in red tape over the Christmas holidays.
In January The BC government declined involvement in
the project, as Alberta was unwilling to facilitate
release areas for the cubs upon release time. NLWS agrees
with the BC Government that it is not feasible to release
bears from other provinces in BC. It is the current
policies that all bears are released in their original
home rage. This means that a Vancouver bear would not
be released in the north of BC. The reasons for such
policies are to not disturb the natural balance of the
local population and also to prevent possible genetic
mix-ups. The two cubs have been temporarily placed at
the Calgary Zoo and are looking for a permanent home
in human care somewhere else.
August 2002
Offers to rehabilitate grizzly cubs "ignored"
Two seven month old grizzly cubs, that lost their mother
to a random illegal shooting, will spend the rest of
their lives at display at Grouse Mountain Refuge in
Vancouver instead of being rehabilitated and released
back into their home range. Both NLWS and Hillspring
Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre offered to take the cubs
for rehabilitation, but their offers where declined
by the Ministry, even tough Hillspring has rehabbed
two grizzly cubs in 2000 with the governments approval.
Instead the cubs became a profit making subject at Grouse
Mountain in Vancouver.
|
June 25, 2007
Tony is very lonely without his brother; we hope that
we soon get another cub to keep him company. |
 |
June 9, 2007
Despite all our efforts Tony’s brother died today.
While Tony thrived over the past days, his brother steadily
grew weaker. Our vet performed an autopsy and found
internal injuries. The cubs might have fallen or got
hit by a car too. |
 |
 |
June 6, 2007
Today we got the first cubs of the season. The two
brothers where found close to their dead mother, who
was killed in a car accident several weeks ago. The
siblings survived on their own, but stayed close to
their mom’s body. They are very hungry and quite
skinny.
|
