For the first time in B.C., scientists and conservationists are getting an inside look at what happens to orphaned black bear cubs when they’re released back into the wild.
While there are records of the occasional released bear that comes into conflict with humans or is killed by a hunter, the fate of most cubs — including whether they suffer predation or starvation — remains largely unknown.
That is, until now.
The Northern Lights Wildlife Society, which rehabilitates and releases orphaned animals, secured a grant and has partnered with the University of Victoria to study the fate of young black bears it releases.
Similar research has been conducted in other jurisdictions, but the data for B.C. bears is thin.
“Our aim is to create a peer-reviewed paper or several peer-reviewed papers that are then available online for everybody,” explained Angelika Langen, executive director of the Northern Lights Wildlife Society.
“So anybody who is looking to do a program like this in another province or in the (United States) or wherever in the world with other types of bears has the information that we have gathered over the 34 years and then finalized in this study and can build on that to do their own programs.”
The society, which is based out of Smithers, has looked after more than 800 orphaned bears in the last three decades.
The team has installed radio collars on 42 juvenile black bears so far. The collars are designed to pop off automatically after 500 days so they don’t constrain the growing bears, and can be removed by a bear who is in discomfort. They’re also equipped with both GPS and VHF technology to allow satellite and localized tracking for observation.
“I can turn the computer on and see where our bears are, where they are travelling, how far they are travelling,” said Langen.
“We currently have people in the field that are looking to find some of these bears and with a drone do some visuals just to see what their body condition is like, are they doing well, have they found enough food, are they managing well in general.”
So far, two bears have removed their collars, while the team has confirmed one was killed by a cougar.
Langen said the team is particularly interested in how many and which bears are the victims of predators, typically cougars and other bears. Avoiding predators, she said, is something the cubs can’t be taught in rehabilitation.
“I have no idea how we would teach them that in our facility,” she said. “It’s not like I can let a cougar loose in their cage.”
Just like humans, bears have distinct personalities, Langen said.
One bear, for example, has travelled nearly 500 kilometres since its release, while another travelled nearly as far only to return to its release site to hibernate.
Langen is hoping the data collected could help identify which personality traits mark a bear as better suited for survival and release.
“Does it have to do with our release sites? Does it have to do with just personalities?” she said.
“We are trying to gather as much information as we can and learn so we can assist them, we let them go out there and make sure they have the best chance possible.”
A University of Victoria master’s student is collaborating with the project and will use two years of data to submit a paper for peer review. The project will also use previous radio collar data from bears that were released on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland.
Langen said the hope is to have future students sign on to carry the research forward over the following three years and produce more peer-reviewed research.