Sun Peaks Bear Aware is sponsoring a young bear cub, found alone March 23 by two hikers in the Heffley Creek area, and is seeking support for his care.
“He couldn’t move around. He was just calling for mom,” Sun Peaks Bear Aware president Irene Kastner said.
The hikers contacted Northern Lights Wildlife Society and were advised to leave the cub for the evening, in hopes its mom would return, but the next day he was still alone – and his condition had worsened.
The cub, dubbed Jelly, was taken to Kamloops Wildlife Park, where he was assessed, given fluids and put in an incubator to raise his temperature. From there he was transported to Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, where he will live for the next year.
The rehabilitation and rewilding organization has been around since 1990, taking in injured or orphaned wild mammals before returning them to their region of origin.
The society is permitted to rescue orphaned animals under one year of age, and typically must wait 48 hours before taking in an animal, co-founder of Northern Lights Angelika Langen said.
“In this case, we felt that 48 hours was not feasible, because the cub had already weakened and was cold and was getting less responsive.”
Over the past week, Jelly has improved significantly, gaining weight with a bottle feeding every four hours and becoming vocal and alert. But the close care is costly, and Sun Peaks Bear Aware is raising funds to help.
With a goal of $4,000, donations will go directly to cover Jelly’s food, which costs about $43 per week currently and will increase as he ages.
Sun Peaks Bear Aware is also accepting donations of pure and unsweetened apple sauce, pure maple syrup, oatmeal and peanut butter. These can be dropped off at Ohana Deli.
Northern Lights Wildlife Society will house the cub for just over a year with an estimated release date of June 2027, according to Langen. After that, Jelly will be monitored for another year to ensure he is reacclimating successfully.
In the meantime, the society tries to mimic nature as much as possible, keeping the cubs away from any human toys like swings or tires.
“We give them rotten logs. We give them lots of greens and branches and everything that they would find out in the wild,” Langen said.
While Jelly has found a safe place to grow up, many other cubs can be orphaned for various reasons, including human interaction. The most common reason for orphaning Langen sees is vehicle collisions, which kill the mother, leaving the cub to fend for itself.
“Slowing down really can help a lot,” she explained. “People often think, ‘Oh, that’s gonna run off the road’ and keep driving, but she has a cub behind her that isn’t moving fast enough to get off the road.”
Mother bears will position themselves between a vehicle and the cub, staying put until it is safely out of the way, and reducing speed or stopping when a bear is spotted will limit the need for Northern Lights’ services.
“That would be the best thing ever,” Langen says.
To donate to Jelly’s care, visit Zeffy.com and stay up to date on his progress through Sun Peaks Bear Aware’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
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