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Facility In Silt Works To Rehabilitate Bad Bears

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Nov 11, 2009 10:15 pm US/Mountain

Facility In Silt Works To Rehabilitate Bad Bears

Good Question: How do you rehabilitate a bear?

Written by Alan Gionet

Reporting
Alan Gionet
SILT, Colo. (CBS4) ― It's been a bad year for bears in Colorado. Nearly 50 have been killed by the Division of Wildlife because they've become a danger to humans. The division is not happy about killing any of them and knows there are people who aren't happy when the kill any animal; but it's a reality.

Many are sows that take the cubs with them. Sometimes when a bear breaks into a house, the cubs wait outside. That may make the difference for those young bears.

The DOW has only one place in the state where it takes the young bears to give them another chance. It's the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation in Silt. The Foundation cares for all kinds of wild animals to prepare them for a return to the wild.

On our recent visit executive director Nanci Limbach said at last count they had "64 critters." She's a busy veterinarian technician who keeps a dozen or so young bears in cages with doghouse-like enclosures where the bears like to hide … That is when they don't want any contact with humans. CBS4 looked at three young bears brought in from Aspen.

"These guys didn't go in the house. Mom was in the house, but these guys weren't. So that's why they decided to go ahead and save these three," said Limbach.

The foundation will take in young animals, give them veterinary care if they need it, then place them in cages where they're fed. Rehabilitating older bears is not only difficult, it's dangerous. They once got a severely undernourished bear that started gaining weight by the hundreds of pounds when it had a good food source, "she got scary," said Limbach as she described how the bear would stand on its hind legs and shake the fence on its enclosure.

"They're really, really strong."

Older bears often move long distances to former feeding grounds. They've already learned bad habits that can't be broken. Bears younger than a year can be fattened at the wildlife foundation, then placed in remote areas by the Division of Wildlife in the dead of winter.
CBS4 wondered if the bears learn from their feedings in their enclosures that food comes from humans.

"I think if they do, it's an association that the food's not in a house that they're getting in to. The food is just miraculously showing up like it would be on trees and things like that when they're out there. It's not like mom is breaking into a house and showing them this is where you can also find food; it's not in the way of a trash can."

In spring they wake from hibernation with no humans around and no easy food source.

"I think part of the success comes in part because these guys are young. And so they hit the natural progression of a year later, life has totally changed. And 'I don't have somebody taking me places and showing me food' is, 'So I have to learn where it all is in the hills and things.'"

Few of the bears rehabbed there have ever gotten into trouble again. That's good, because when they leave they usually go out with a tag on their ear, indicating they get one chance only.

"These guys will go with the idea that if they ever cross the line, behavior wise, it's not worth giving them another chance."

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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