Photo: Contributed
This sick bear cub has been in Tobiano since Tuesday.
UPDATE: 5:03 p.m.
A sick black bear cub who has been concerning residents in Tobiano since Tuesday is now en route to a rescue agency in Smithers.
Anjelica Langen, co-founder and executive director of Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter, said the young bear, nicknamed Tobi by neighbours in Tobiano, was trapped on Wednesday afternoon.
“We don’t know what condition it is in,” she told Castanet Kamloops.
“Our volunteers are estimating a weight of only 14 pounds, which is really, really low. So it needs help, there is no question. We’ll find out once it gets here whether there’s something serious going on or if it just needs some TLC.”
According to Langen, sick bear cubs at this time of year are most often just in need of some attention.
“We’ll get some good feeding, slowly introduce them to food again,” she said. “Then hopefully that will do the trick.”
When asked what changed, Langen credited the story Wednesday morning on Castanet for helping to get the ball rolling on rescuing the cub.
“I got a lot of flack today,” she said. “I got phone calls from Victoria and all kinds of places. It’s been fun.”
ORIGINAL STORY: 9:58 a.m.
A sick bear cub is causing a stir in Tobiano, where residents are trying to arrange for a rescue to pick up the animal and nurse it back to health.
The young black bear showed up in Tobiano on Tuesday and is now hanging out in a resident’s yard.
Neighbour Crystal Warner said the cub appears to be in poor health.
“He’s camped out and you can just tell there’s sores all over him,” she said. “He’s very, very ill. He’s not doing well.”
Concerned residents in Tobiano are trying to get help for the bear, but they are having some trouble.
The first rescue agency contacted, Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter, was told to stand down.
Anjelica Langen, co-founder and executive director of Northern Lights, said her agency was told by a government biologist to “let nature take its course” with the bear because of reports that it had been eating dog food and was habituated to humans.
“So we’re told not to take this bear, which basically means it’s going to die,” she said.
“We had a volunteer there ready to set a trap, but we were not allowed.”
Warner said neighbours have been in touch with another rescue agency and the BC Conservation Officer Service.
She said Interior Wildlife Rescue is trying to get permission to trap the bear cub on Wednesday, and conservation officers have told residents to try to keep the bear moving.
“The idea for conservation was, you need to keep the bear moving, otherwise if they come the decision has already been made,” Warner said.
“If he keeps moving, it’s his best chance to keep being a bear.”
Langen said the starving bear could cling to life for “weeks” before dying if nature is left to take its course.
“It will be a slow process,” she said.
Castanet is waiting to hear back from the BC Conservation Officer Service.
