Wildlife agents dealing with near-record number of orphaned bears | Urban Wildlife

In the last few months, black bear sightings put schools on lockdowns and shut down roads.

Each time it happens, wildlife agents worry. They're coming off a near-record year for orphaned cubs.

That's evident in the halls of the PAWS Wildlife Center in Lynnwood.

It's not unusual to see workers carrying a black bear, but a recent day in June was strangely hectic. Veterinarians tranquilized and examined six bears, back to back.

They took measurements, checked vitals, and collared four bears that were about to be released.

Each was orphaned as a cub, so PAWS stepped in.

Normally the non-profit agency cares for two to five bears a year. This past year, it was seven at once - the most in a decade.

In all, wildlife agents picked up 23 orphaned cubs and took them to five rehab facilities in two states.

They were on the brink of more drastic measures.

"The only alternative other than working with rehab is euthanasia," said Wildlife Biologist Rich Beausoleil. "There's not much we have as an agency to help these animals through. It requires a lot of care. A lot of money. And we just don't have the resources to do it."

As bears once again come out of the woods, the wildlife department puts out the same reminder: put away anything that will attract a bear to your backyard.

The orphaned cubs' mothers most likely died while hunting for food too close to cars and people.

"It's the big three. It's garbage, it's birdseed and it's pet food," said Beausoleil. "If we could get a good handle on those three items, we wouldn't have bear/human conflict."

Beausoleil believes people hear but don't heed the warnings.

"I call it the heart disease of wildlife management," he explained. "People know about the problems, but until it effects them, nothing is done. It's the same with heart disease. We know we're supposed to eat healthy but until we have a heart attack we don't change our ways. So we really need folks to step up and change their ways."

The four cubs at PAWS cleared their checkups and were healthy enough to be released.

The wildlife department uses what they call a hard release, hitting the bears with beanbags and shooting firecracker shells. The scare will stick in their memories, and they won't want to be near humans.

Other bears haven't learned the same lesson. So agents say people need to learn theirs.

Don't attract bears out of the woods - and cubs have a better chance growing up wild.