‘He would have perished’: Newborn bear cub rescued near Devil’s Lake

Black Bear Rescue Manitoba (BBRM) has taken in its first cub foundling of the year.

The registered charity responsible for saving dozens of bear cubs across the province got the call on Wednesday, Feb. 8 reporting an abandoned black bear cub near Devil’s Lake, Man.

“The mother and cub were denned in a brush pile, and a log was removed from the brush pile, basically exposing their den, unbeknownst to the people involved,” said BBRM owner Judy Stearns.

Stearns said the mother bear ran away instinctively. “She would have been petrified. And so she took off and abandoned the cub.”

The mother did not return. Stearns said they had no other option but to bring the cub to safety.

“He wouldn’t have lasted very long in the cold,” said Stearns, estimating the cub to be only two to three weeks old.

She said the cub was very tired, confused, and hungry when he arrived at the BBRM facility in Stonewall. They fed him a special bear milk substitute formula every two hours until he started feeling better.

“A few feedings of that and he really perked up,” said Stearns. “He got very energetic!”

She said they do often have a few cubs turned in before April because of den disturbances like this, but not usually this early.

“I think it might be a busy year if we’ve started already,” said Stearns.

Stearns said this young cub is doing just fine and is expected to be released back into the wild in October with the rest of this year’s foundlings. (Source: Judy Stearns)

She added bear cubs are usually brought in to BBRM because their mothers have been either hit by a vehicle or shot. Sometimes they just don’t know where the mother went. “There will just be a cub wandering, and no clue what happened to the mother,” Stearns said.

Human activity is overwhelmingly the most common reason for cubs to be separated from their mothers. And numbers are going up. Stearns said aside from last year, every year they have been in operation has seen an increase in the number of cubs rescued in Manitoba.

Stearns said this young cub is doing just fine and is expected to be released back into the wild in October with the rest of this year’s foundlings.

She’s just glad the people involved called it in so quickly. “Thank goodness they did because he would have perished, I would say within 15 minutes,” said Stearns.

She said they are always looking for donations to help with the cost of taking care of their cubs. “This little guy is probably going to cost is $2000 to raise.”

You can learn more about Black Bear Rescue Manitoba on their Facebook page.