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Bear cubs circuitous journey

What a long, strange trip it’s been for three black bear cubs orphaned in Banff National Park.

What a long, strange trip it’s been for three black bear cubs orphaned in Banff National Park.
It’s good to see the cubs have made their way back to Banff – while collecting AirMiles as they winged their way to Ontario and back – but one wonders about their chances of survival after relocation.

As many bear enthusiasts know, bears relocated into another’s territory may fair poorly as they sometimes fall victim to larger, more powerful animals.

For those who missed news of the original incident, three female cubs were discovered locked in a washroom at Vermilion Lakes along the Trans-Canada Highway in April, 2017 (we can only imagine the surprise for whoever found them).

There was no sign of the mother bear at the time they were found and, despite an extensive three-day search and checking of remote trail cameras, wildlife staff in Banff could not find the female bear.

The mystery, of course, was how three bears happened to be in a washroom in Banff National Park. There was a thought that somehow a B.C. hunter who killed the female may have dumped the cubs – but to what end they had them in hand would be anyone’s guess.

The oddness of the situation was heightened when it was discovered that the cubs could not be rehabilitated in Alberta due to clearly outdated regulations banning just such an action.

The cubs, therefore, found themselves flown to Ontario’s Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary for rehabilitation, including introducing them to meat as a means of future survival.

What struck many was that orphaned bear cubs in Canada’s oldest, premier national park, where ecology is king, had to leave the jurisdiction to be saved. It didn’t make sense to many.

The cubs’ return, though, just when a bear warning has been placed throughout the Canmore area south of the Bow River, helps highlight that all is not well in regard to wildlife regulations in this area.

The wide-ranging warning is a good move, though, rather then piecemeal warnings or closures of individual trails. It remains to be seen, of course, whether residents and visitors will pay any closer attention to warnings and closures.

Last year, when grizzly bear 148 was moving back and forth between Banff and Canmore, causing closure of the Quarry Lake area at one point, the issue that most came to light was that of the self-entitled who ignored warnings and were happy to duck under tape that signified trail closures.

Today, of course, residents and visitors continue to recreate in wildlife patches and corridors, and there appears no letup in the number of off leash dogs to be found almost everywhere in our valley.

Still, the Province was reviewing it’s no-rehabilitation rule, and we now await the possibility of sensible seasonal closures being automatically placed due to bears’ food availability and seasonal movements (ie. from dens to lower elevation sites where greenup such as dandelions offers spring feed).

Human/wildlife interactions are unlikely to improve, we feel, until there is an acceptance that we must – must – live with the wildlife we share our valley with. Until people accept that there will be closures, for the benefit of our wildlife, no improvement will be seen.

An attitude adjustment remains needed; one that will see people voluntarily accept closures, abide by them and appreciate them as being in place not to ruin anyone’s recreation, but to ensure wildlife stays wild and alive.


Rocky Mountain Outlook

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