Peter Pan arrived March 30th, 2023

Meet Peter Pan (Please take a moment to read this post in total to understand)

This emaciated shy boy arrived at our doors yesterday. He's had a tough life so far for sure and we hope to give him enough help to get a leg up to a better start in life. Peter Pan represents those cubs that lost their mom, but somehow made it through the summer/fall to hibernation. These cubs hold our special admiration to survive against all odds. Unfortunately, they most of the time, don't get enough weight to make it through hibernation. Without a sibling or mother they also need more energy (weight) to keep warm. The result is that they wake up to early without enough food present. Now they are really in trouble, as they (without other food sources) will turn to human food sources such as birdfeeders and garbage. By not intervening we allow them to become problem bears out of need and then be killed. These bears need our help just as much as the younger once we get in, they are the same age and with a few weeks of good feed will get a fair chance at survival. They have already proven to be smart and resilient so should have great survival chances with a better body condition. We will fundraise for a radio collar for Peter Pan to prove that theory. For now we will give him rest and nutrition to improve and grow. Stay tuned for updates.

Ragnar & Rollo Run Free!

Ragnar & Rollo Run Free!

Emergency Shelter

With intake numbers exceeding our capacity we set out to expand in the midst of winter. That is no easy task as ground is frozen and snow limits access to possible sites. With the help of our longtime partners at DVV Construction we came up with a workable solution.  Framing and doors were build in an indoor workshop and then assembled in a cleared off spot at NLWS. The result 6 more enclosures that we are quickly filling with cubs in need. 

Bear Cubs Avalanche

At the beginning of October NLWS was home to 35 bear cubs including 3 grizzlies. Today, just 2 short month later we are housing 64, including 5 grizzlies.  We are thrilled that we can say with confidence that we are working well with COS and as a result more cubs get a second chance. We still know of cubs out there and are trying hard to get to them, but rescues have become even more complicated with road closures.

 

We are also struggling to secure additional feed supplies for our cubs. If you know any producers that can sell large quantities of carrots or apples please let us know. All other fruits and most vegetables would be great too. Cubs will be with us until June of 2022 so securing feed supplies is of utmost importance. 

Grizzly Fun

Our 5 grizzly cubs are doing well and are very active. In our rewilding program for grizzlies we don't hibernate the cubs and they keep growing throughout the winter. To avoid habituation to humans we release our cubs at 17 month while they typically leave their mother at 29 month. Growing over the winter gives our yearlings the size of 2 year old's and gives them the best survival chances.

All released bears are fitted with a radio collar to monitor their first year and so far we have no evidence that the early release age lessens their survival chances.

Black Bear Awakening

25 orphaned Black Bear cubs hibernated successfully at NLWS this winter. Now they are awake and getting ready for release in June of 2021.

In the wild when bears emerge from hibernation their first food source is the new spring growth. In our care we try to follow nature as much as possible so we start with greens such as lettuce, spinach and kale.

As they get more active we add higher calorie feeds such as root vegetables and apples. It usually takes a few weeks before we introduce sweet berries, grapes, avocado, meat and fish.

Elusive bear cub caught attempting Canada-U.S. border crossing in northern B.C.

Officers at the Canada-U.S. border between Stewart, B.C., and Hyder, Alaska had cause to paws recently, when an unusual visitor was caught attempting to cross.

According to a social media post from the Canada Border Services Agency, a small female black bear cub "sought entry for essential reasons, but had no travel documents."

 

 

Those "reasons" are believed to be natural food and berries, according to Angelika Langen with the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter, which has been tracking the bear for more than a month.

For the full article, click here

Meet our newest bear cub...

Our newest bear cub, Bailey was rescued in Valemont BC, Canada. We made this short and fun video to introduce her to the world.

Please enjoy and as always, share, comment and like. Your donations are important.

Valemount Rescue & Helpful Seasonal Tips

Winter is slowly making its debut this year, causing many bears to delay hibernation due to the unusually warm weather and while feed still available. However those  feed sources are not sufficient forcing them to start looking for alternative food sources.

Bailey The Cub being rescued in Valemount, BC

During these types of scenarios it's important to have the best information and advice. To this aim we have a helpful tip for you.

Today's Wildlife Tip:
Be diligent how you store and dispose of bird seed, organic waste and general garbage. These types of waste can be tempting for bears to sniff out and consume. Thank you!

Valemount Rescue Update

Last week a call reached us from Valemount, BC regarding a cub from this year that had lost its mom. It took a while for us to secure permission to capture, so by the time we received it the cub had disappeared. On Sunday we got word the cub had appeared.  So Monday morning Peter & Angelika got on the road for the 8 hour journey, hoping that the little one would stick around.  A trap was set on Monday evening. Welcome Bailey! The newest member of Northern Lights Wildlife Society (see above pic).

Here's a video of the wintery roads we encountered.

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A post shared by Wildlife Shelter (@wildlifeshelter) on Dec 12, 2018 at 3:22pm PST

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Your support, trust and awareness are important for the work we do to rehabilitate injured and lost wildlife.

We have quite a story to tell!

The call came in early in the morning, a mother black bear had been killed by a truck collision and left 2 cubs behind, would we come and rescue them? Come where was my answer? Manson Creek was the reply. Where in the world is Manson Creek?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manson_Creek,_British_Columbia

It turns out it is quite a ways from Smithers and I am thinking by the time we get there, who knows where those cubs are. But the caller, Mike McKone, insists that him and his workers will  keep an eye on them until we get there, he also states they have equipment to climb a tree if needed. Seems like there is a lot of dedication on the other end, so Peter and I pack up and off we go once again. The trip to Fort Saint James (about 4 hours) is pretty eventless.

Now we “only” have 185km left. According to Mike’s partner Lu McKone it’s pretty straight forward turn right at the fist T and left at the second and then we find it easy. Well let’s put it this way there are a lot more rights and lefts and when you drive a rough logging road in the middle of nowhere you start questioning “are we still going the right way?”. After 3 (towards the end pretty nerve-wracking ) hours we finally come upon some signs that point to Manson Creek. Our welcome there is warm and super friendly. Mike and Lu are so very nice. Off we go again to the cubs location and now we worry about descending darkness and apparently a female grizzly that is looking for an easy meal.

Arriving at the accident site we meet two of Mikes Crew Daniel (Danny) Teichroeb and Sean Anderson. When inquiring about the cubs, they state that they haven’t seen them all day. The last sighting was early in the morning. Peter and I look at each other and think the same thing, well, that was a long trip for nothing. But Mike is full of contagious positive energy, he is certain we can find them. So I scramble down a steep hill, with lots of snags and underbrush and even more mosquitos and biting flies in a long shot attempt to locate two cubs that are being pursued by a grizzly. I learned a long time ago to listen and so I sit down and do just that.

As time slips away and it gets darker and the insect bites are no fun at all, I suddenly hear what I have been hoping for, the (at least to me) very distinct sound of little claws scrambling up tree bark. I turn my head in that direction and a few 100 meters downhill, high up in an old dead tree I look directly into a cubs face.  Boy my heart rate accelerated at phenomenal speed as I alerted the others. We all meet under the old tree looking up at two pretty exhausted looking cubs that stare fearfully down at us. Climbing dead trees is a dangerous undertaking and though Danny makes an attempt to go up, the fearful cubs just shoot way to the top and out of reach in a heartbeat. Now it’s almost totally dark and there is no way we can get the cubs this evening.

With a worried heard, as we can hear the grizzly in the bushes, we retreat. Danny promises to check on them and we all catch some much needed sleep.

Upon our early morning return, we find Danny under the same tree, reporting happily that both cubs are still there. But they look even worse now. Despite safety concerns, Danny once again tries to climb the tree, he is going slow motion and the cubs watch him tiredly. Just as he gets into reach of my tranquilizer pole, one cub once again shoots up the tree out of reach. But the second cub seems to tired to move and with a long reach Danny can poke him.

However our cheer is cut short as with his last strength this cub too shoots up the tree out of reach for Danny to catch him as he falls asleep. We all watch in horrified fascination as the cub loses his grip and starts falling out of the tree.

Peter and Mike have a blanket ready, but as he falls, he bounces from branch to branch, changing directions constantly and in the end misses the blanket by a few centimetres. We are all worried, but a short examination shows no apparent broken bones and his breathing is even and regularly. After much debate, we move the cub up closer towards the road and secure him in our transport box. We then set up a life trap beside him hoping his sibling can evade the still present grizzly, and come to join his or her brother (the first cub is a male).

Convincing Mike and Danny to leave the site is no easy task, they are really worried about their little charges.  But the second cub will not leave the tree with us there. So we leave for 2 long hours, hoping for the best. Returning I can see from the road that the trap is closed, but I can’t see if something is in it or not.

Once again we scramble downhill and to our immense relief and joy cub #2 (also a male) is sitting there, not looking too pleased with his new accommodation.

We are all ecstatic, to have pulled off this rescue and after both cubs are secured and reunited in the transport box we say Goodbye to the great people at Manson Creek and start the long journey home.

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