BEAR CUB RESCUES RISE AS FOOD SUPPLY DWINDLES ACROSS COLORADO

By Colorado Newsline

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is rescuing more abandoned black bear cubs this year after environmental conditions strained food sources that bears rely on to fatten up before winter.

“Extreme drought conditions have limited natural forage in the higher elevations,” said Rachael Gonzales, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northwest Region spokesperson, in an email to Colorado Newsline. “Low mountain snowpack and wildfires have added to the reduced availability of natural foods such as berries, fruits, nuts, plants and grasses across Colorado. A starving mother bear’s milk can dry up, forcing her to abandon her cubs, leaving them to search for food on their own.”

Each year orphaned cubs are brought to one of two CPW-licensed wildlife rehabilitation centers where the bears are fed natural foods such as fish and berries, as well as donated peaches from Colorado orchards. Once they’ve reached 60-70 pounds and start to display denning behavior the bears are released back into the wild.

By late September, CPW’s Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Del Norte had taken in 41 cubs — significantly more than the 29 rescued bears brought to the center last year, said John Livingston, CPW Southwest Region spokesperson. In a typical year, the center cares for roughly 20 bears, he said.

The other CPW-licensed wildlife rehabilitation center is the nonprofit Pauline Schneegas Wildlife Foundation, in Silt. This year it took in more than 30 bear cubs versus the three cubs it cared for last year, said the foundation’s executive director and founder, Nanci Limbach. The center, which is not funded by CPW, averages five to 10 cubs yearly, she noted.

[Photo: Colorado Newsline]

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