22 Jul 01

A groundbreaking WSPA study will assess the viability of rehabilitation programmes by tracking a pair of bears post-release using radio telemetry equipment. Two female black bears named 'Jemima' and 'Juneau', were released into a remote area of Alberta at the beginning of July 2001, will be the test subjects in this historic research project.

The two bears first made headlines when their mother was hit by a car outside of Edson two years ago. Captured by Fish & Wildlife officers, the pair were in a sorry state when they were brought to the Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI) in May of 1999.

Following a brief period of intensive care, the cubs were placed in a large, purpose-built, heavily wooded enclosure. Minimal contact protocols observed over the past two years designed to limit human-bear interaction mean that the bears are excellent candidates for reintroduction.

WSPA Project Manager Rob Laidlaw commented : "Over the years there have been numerous efforts to rehabilitate and release orphaned cubs. Lacking objective data, these efforts have operated on a good faith belief that the bears are better for the intervention."

"We believe that orphaned cubs can survive on their own without becoming nuisance animals and we're going to prove it. The release of Jemima and Juneau will serve as an alternative to simply leaving bears to die, shooting them, or allowing them to rot in some roadside zoo."

Every year hundreds of cubs are orphaned across Canada. Their mothers meet their end as a result of nuisance bear encounters, motor vehicle accidents, through hunting and poaching, conflict with bears and other wildlife, and natural mortality.

Left to their own devices, two out of three will perish. Jemima and Juneau were fortunate in that Alberta Fish Camp; Wildlife chose to place them with an experienced rehabber.

Too often, when wildlife authorities do intervene, it is to shoot the bears or place them in the care of a zoo. Adds CEI's Clio Smeeton: "Such intervention is done purely in the name of expediency. By documenting the process by which Jemima and Juneau are absorbed into the wild population, we hope to offer wildlife managers a choice. It is hoped that our data will allow wildlife managers confronted with orphaned bear cubs to choose rescue, rehabilitation and release over abandonment, execution or imprisonment."

Internationally recognized for their work in successfully returning the swift fox to the Canadian prairie after it had been classified as extinct, CEI bred and released 841 foxes for the Canadian program between 1983 and 1987.

The swift fox is now found in Saskatchewan and Alberta and the same methodology is being used to reintroduce the animal to Blackfeet Tribal Lands in Montana. Immobilization of the bears and implantation of the ear tags was carried out by Wildlife Veterinarian Todd Shury and local Conservation Officers with the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Service.

A monitoring team led Sian Waters, a conservation biologist of Welsh extraction, and supported by volunteers from Italy and Lebanon will track the bear's movements by means of ear tag transmitters through to next summer.

Monitoring took place daily until the bears settle into a defined territory and continued on a twice-weekly basis until they den this autumn. The bears ear tag transmitters are programmed to be off for 4 months during the winter. Survivorship will be assessed by their ability to find and defend a territory, to forage for food and to successfully den for the winter.

Pat Young, Area Wildlife Biologist for Alberta's Fish and Wildlife Service, said that his department was pleased to be partnered in the initiative. "The province is very interested in this research program and will consider its results in its future handling protocols of orphaned black bears."