Three more bear cubs orphaned in Prince George

Triplet bear cubs were orphaned in the Prince George area over the weekend.

Conservation Officer James Brady says a sow was shot by property owners in a rural area north of the city after destroying property, killing livestock and becoming increasingly brazen.

Brady says the property owners managed the situation responsibly.

“They’re very good with nature and the environment. They said they’ve been out there for 35 years. They had bears come through all the time. This one as the first one in 35 years that ever did anything like this.”

Brady says, while it wasn’t a factor in this case, it’s important not to give bears a reason to come onto your property.

“In this incidence, everything was very clean. There was no garbage in the area, no nothing. But in most incidences that we do have in Prince George, the main cause of bears being habitual is unsecured attractants.”

When they realized the sow had cubs, the property owners called the conservation office. The cubs were sent to Northern Lights Wildlife Society, bringing their number of rescued bear cubs to 20.

In the 26 years, she’s been working with the society, Angelika Langen says the largest number of bear cubs they’ve had by this point in the year was six. Usually, it’s only two or three. She says she’s not sure what they’ll do if the cubs keep coming in.

“I have no idea – we’ll just swing it as it comes. We have the space – it’s not a matter of that we don’t know where to put them. We’ve had over 45 bears before – that’s not the point. Usually, they come in kind of gradually over the summer and fall not all at once in the spring.”

It’s going to be a busy summer for the society but things will get easier in a couple of months.

“By August, we can wean them and they can go on solid foods. We’re prepared for that. We always buy apples and those kinds of things in the fall. We’re set up financially for that but now, with so much milk [needed], that was really something we didn’t anticipate.”

Langen says last year’s bumper berry crop may have led to a bumper crop of cubs this year. She says they’ve only received two single cubs so far and at least three sets of triplets.

“It’s a combination of things. The animals seem to come out of areas that had very good berry crops last year and there’s a lot of them. So there’s triplets rather than one or two. That helps to bring the numbers up really fast when you get them all coming in in twins and triplets.”

Brady says they’ve noticed more cubs out in the bush as well.

“The bears seem to be having larger litters in the last couple of years and with the warmer weather, the cubs’ survival seems to be increasing. Normally, if they have a couple of cubs, one or two may not make it.”

More mouths to feed can drive mother bears to seek out easy food sources. Brady says it’s important to make sure any attractants – from animals to garbage – are properly secured.