An orphaned bear cub in Maple Ridge has been found safely, and will be raised at Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley.
The tiny, eight-pound female had been bawling for its mother. It was going onto people’s porches, and was seen following a person down the road. Residents in the neighbourhood – at Lougheed Highway and 116th Avenue – were concerned, and posting about the situation in social media.
Many said the sound of the cub’s distressed cries were heartbreaking, and wondered why help was not coming.
Kris Whitlock of the Maple Ridge Black Bear Society managed to locate the cub, and the Conservation Officers Service eventually approved its capture. That finally happened on Wednesday night, April 15.
“The tiny bear cub had been alone crying since Monday in a green space behind the town homes,” said Whitlock.
The cub was found in hollow tree directly behind a house, and it immediately was desperate to follow Whitlock, and not be left alone. Those who contacted the COS were told that if it was alone – with no sign of its mother, for three days, then something could be done to rescue it.
There was a back-and-forth between Conservation, whose biologist advised the cub should be left alone, and residents and Whitlock, who wanted to ensure it’s safety.
“We were all very concerned about what would happen to this tiny hungry little bear,” said Whitlock.
Whitlock was eventually approved to kennel the bear and drove it directly to Critter Care.
“Thankfully we got the bear to the help it needed,” she said. “Huge shoutout to some amazing neighbours, Alana and Liz, who raised their voices and decided to help a little bear.”
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Ellie Lamb, a North Vancouver resident who works as a bear viewing guide in northern B.C., was one of those concerned and advocating the bear be picked up. She said in her experience, orphaned cubs that young only live three to five days, and are vulnerable to coyotes and other predators, so the Maple Ridge cub was in a critical time.
She was grateful its rescue was eventually approved, and there was a happy ending to this story.
“We spend our whole lives impacting nature, and when we have a chance to help, it’s good for us,” said Lamb. “It allows us to be the best of who we are.”
Critter Care raises bears and other species of injured or orphaned wildlife until they are able to fend for themselves, and can be released back into the wilderness.