Two black bear cubs are now in the care of a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Langley, after their mother was killed by a vehicle on the Sunshine Coast on Friday.
Dean Miller with the Conservation Officer Service (COS) said the sow was struck and suffered a critical spinal injury on Highway 101. The driver stopped, but did not report the accident to the COS, he added.
Another woman arrived on the scene shortly afterwards, phoned the COS, and stayed with the bear’s trio of cubs until an officer arrived to euthanize the sow, Miller said.
Officers were able to capture two of the three orphaned cubs, however the third one bolted up a tree, he said.
He said officers laid traps hoping to capture the cub, but that it has not been seen since and officers fear it may have been struck be a vehicle or eaten by a predator.
The other two cubs, he said, showed no evidence of habituation to humans and were good candidates for rescue. The pair are now being fattened up and cared for at Langley’s Critter Care.
Miller said the COS was reminding drivers to slow down and watch for wildlife, and to always call in animal strikes.
In this case, he said, the mother bear was likely in a great deal of pain until a conservation officer put it down.
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