"But at least they get a chance.”
January 30, 2021 9:18 AM   Subscribe

At Wet Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation, Cec Sanders and Tom Sanders have rehabbed over 150 Colorado bears (and other wildlife). Seven orphaned bear cubs were just moved to artificial dens on Pikes Peak for the winter. Cubs climbing fences. Earlier videos on artificial den construction, moving cubs to a den, and cubs emerging in the spring.

Cubs become orphaned in part because Colorado euthanizes about 100 to 200 bears a year (570 since 2013) due to habituation to humans that leads them to enter houses, leading to calls for large mammal retraining.

“If human conflicts with bears continue to increase, we’re going to have more bears with cubs that come into this situation. It is not something that’s going to go away,” said CPW biologist Mark Vieira, manager of the agency’s carnivore program.

Meet the couple that do the rehab, at considerable expense.
posted by medusa (4 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Verdict of my kids: the hay bale artificial dens "look nice and cozy."
posted by medusa at 9:20 AM on January 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


"Cecilia says every new bear that arrives at their place is given a stuffed animal – sometimes a huge teddy bear – to play and bond with. They’ll use the toys for snuggling and to drag around their enclosure."

this must be the best retirement gig.
posted by zdravo at 11:55 AM on January 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


OMG the wee baby bearsies in their li’l feetie jammies!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:00 PM on January 30, 2021


How adorable! I approve highly of this wholesome content.
posted by daybeforetheday at 11:58 AM on February 2, 2021


« Older Producer SOPHIE dead at 34   |   “Welcome to the end of the world” Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments