Idaho Black Bear Rehab, Inc.

www.bearrehab.org

Valerie M. Stephan-LeBoeuf

IBBR Rehabilitation

of Black Bears

Founded in 1989 - Non-profit organization

Mission is to give all orphaned cubs a second chance at life in the wild by:

• Rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing orphaned cubs whenever

possible.

• Instituting bear rehabilitation programs and training rehabilitators in

states where the option currently does not exist.

• Working with state wildlife agencies to establish bear rehab as a

standard part of their wildlife management policies.

• Educating the public about bear rehab and our shared responsibility

to protect wild bears and their habitat.

• Continue learning and sharing rehab methods to successfully release

orphaned cubs.

Located in Garden City

Ada County, Idaho

on 2.228 acres

Bears arrive at IBBR all year.

• Age on arrival has ranged from three (3) weeks to seven (7)

years.

• Arrival weights range: 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs – 33.11kg / 73 lbs.

• Release weights range: 22.68 kg / 50 lbs – 97.07 kg / 214 lbs.

Black Bear Rehabilitation

Arrival

Feeding

Facilities

Socialization

Medical Care

Release

Infants 8-12 Weeks 4 months

6 months

8 months to release

7 yr old female

w/yearling cub

Not a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

After caring for nearly 220 bears during the last 26 years,

IBBR has found that each bear's individual personality is as

distinct as the variety of personalities we find among humans.

Rehabilitation of bears can never take a "one-size-fits-all"

approach. Besides providing for a variety of physical needs,

such as those facing newborns, malnourished, injured, or

bears fighting disease, support for emotional trauma, or

inquisitive and active minds, rehabilitation must be

customized for each and every bear. IBBR is well known for

adapting rehabilitation techniques and facilities to fit the

needs of individual bears.

Facilities

• Facilities of IBBR include five (5) outdoor

enclosures that can accommodate a variety of

bear ages, medical conditions and smooth

transitions into the populations of current

resident bears in rehabilitation.

• Enclosures vary in length, width, height,

enhancements, etc., so that they are tailored to

accommodate the constantly varying needs

of bears that enter the rehabilitation program.

Den Boxes

The opportunity to explore

Socialization =

Security, Play, Good Health, Natural Bear Behavior

Remote Monitoring - 2007

Release

A second chance at freedom…

• Data recovered over the past 26 years indicates that

IBBR bears have documented survival rates up to 6

years post-release.

• Radio collar tracking and post-mortem retrieval of ear

tags show that few IBBR bears have become involved in

conflict situations within 30 days post release (< .015), or

within 31 days to 1 year post release (< .02).

• Most bears (> .96) are considered successfully released.

• Some IBBR bears were studied up to 6 years post-

release and were not only surviving but were

documented to produce multiple sets of surviving

offspring.

Results

Total Bears Received 219

Bears currently in rehab 3 Died prior to Release from pre-existing injury/illness 10 (.046) Died During Tranquilizing 1 (.005)

Total Released 205

Post Release Data 111 (.541)

Human/Bear Conflict 1st 30 days 3 (.015) Human/Bear Conflict 31 days to 1 year 4 (.019) Died within 1st 30 days (excludes Conflict) Vehicle 2 (.010)

Post Release Data Pending To Date 94 bears (62 Idaho Bears) (.458)

Released

Survival

Died post release

Conflict Activity

Survival rates based on data retrieved to date, May 2015 1 month post release (.05) 2 months post release (.055) 3 months post release (.055) 4 months post release (.075) 5 months post release (.04) 6 months post release (.015) 8 months post release (.015) 9 months post release (.02) 10 months post release (.005) 12 months post release (.035) 1.5 years post release (.015) 2 years post release (.01) 2.5 years post release (.005) 3 years post release (.005) 4 years post release (.005) 5 years post release (.005) 6 years post release (.005)

Photos of den exit behavior - Julie

Miller, graduate studies, Brigham Young

University

First Option: Rehabilitation & Release

• Black bears are well represented throughout

numerous zoos in the U.S.

• Black bears are naturally "nomadic,” and the

best of enclosures cannot replicate natural

experiences that will fulfill their instinctual drives

and complex behaviors.

• Public sentiments are moving away from

traditional models of captivity as being

appropriate for all animal species – i.e. Blackfish

re Orcas in aquariums.

Myths and Fallacies

• Bears will become habituated / food

conditioned.

• Bears won’t know how to fend for

themselves.

• Bears will experience human/bear

conflicts.

• Bears need to be in a “wild” environment

during rehab.

• Nobody cares about an individual bear.

Habituation / Food Conditioned Usually when the term habituation is used it is meant to imply that the bears are attracted to humans for food and other needs.

However, bears that are fully habituated to humans ignore them. Thus, habituated bears would not necessarily be attracted to humans for food and other needs. * * Whitaker and Knight 1998; Rogers et al. 2011.

To date, and based on recovered data, over 96% of IBBR bears are considered successfully released, as they sustained themselves and did not become involved in human/bear conflict during the first month post release.

Learning to Fend for Themselves

IBBR’s experience has

shown that the behaviors and

skills that black bears need

to survive in the wild are

instinctive and do not need to

be taught.

Skills to Survive

Maturing of the bears’ “wild instinct” during rehab. “Around the first week of October, their behavior changes dramatically. They spook at everything including us during our normal routine. They run wildly to the other end of the enclosure as if some bizarre event were happening. Only when visual recognition takes place will they settle down…It begins to taper off as the weather changes and they become more lethargic in preparation for hibernation.” Maughan, Sally, IBBR, 2004, updated 2010, Bear Rehab Handbook

Human/Bear Conflict

Key elements for a successful reintroduction into the wild:

• Adequate high quality release habitat

• Minimum contact with humans for 7-10 days post

release

• An opportunity to socialize with other bear cubs during

early development

• Individual personalities *

* Bereczky L, Mihai P, Lajos B. Personality distinctiveness in juvenile brown bears – can

behavior traits of juveniles predict later problematic behavior?

Be BearWise

Many of the situations that result in orphan cubs, injured

bears, property damage, and personal injury, can be

avoided by educating the public, and offering tips and

solutions on how to co-exist peacefully with bears in

their wild environment. IBBR is committed to sharing

information with the public, and wildlife agencies -

information that can offer potential solutions to problems

that lead to injury, illness, and orphan-states of bear

cubs.

Near-urban rehab facilities

Opportunities to

Explore

Socialization

Remote

Monitoring

Security

“All assertions for championing

conservation are inherently a

matter of self-interest.” (Simpson, 2013)

John Livingston, in The Fallacy of Wildlife

Conservation notes “that wildlife preservation is

entirely dependent upon individual human

experience.” (Simpson, 2013)

Simpson, S. (2013). Dominion of Bears: Living with wildlife in Alaska. University Press of

Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas.

Nobody cares about an individual bear…

Individual members of the public have the opportunity to become aware of a

program that supports the notion that “one bear” does make a difference, and that

“one person” can make a positive impact on wildlife populations. The chance to

report an orphaned or injured bear; the knowledge that their individual concern will

result in that bear receiving humane and appropriate care; and that because of their

initial action, a bear will be returned to the wild – this is the beginning of fostering an

inherent position that all citizens have a stake in the environment and its wildlife

populations.

Benefits of Successful Black

Bear Rehabilitation Programs

• Cooperative Effort

• Positive Image Management

• Scientific Value

Cooperative Efforts Search

& Rescue Medical

Treatment

Data

Collection Release &

Tracking

Education &

Outreach

Positive Image Management is

a Benefit to Government Agencies

“Rehabilitation programs also have provided positive educational

and public relations value to governmental entities charged

with managing wild bear populations…”

Beecham, John. 2006.

Special Cases - Cinder

Scientific Value of Rehabilitation Programs

Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding in China – cite

the programs of IBBR as a potential model in efforts to return

Giant Pandas bred in captivity to the wild. “The experiences of

rehabilitation and reintroduction with other bear species is

valuable in planning for the eventual reintroduction of giant

pandas…”

The Associated Press. Bear rehabilitators from around world look to black bear center in Idaho for guidance. International

Herald Tribune, The Global Edition of the New York Times 17 July 2007. Accessed online January 8, 2009.

http://www.iht.com/articles / ap/2007/07/18/america/NA-GEN-US-Bea

Despite release success, rehabilitation still

remains an under-utilized technique for dealing

with orphan and/or injured black bears.

• Ethical and science-based protocols concerning injured and orphaned black bear should be considered by wildlife agencies when drafting regulations and management plans.

• The fluid nature of bear rehabilitation programs is important to consider as agencies draft policies and procedures meant to regulate bear rehabilitation.

• Black bear rehabilitators can be an

important contributor to agency black bear

management policies as they affect black

bear rehabilitation.

• Black Bears can be successfully

rehabilitated at facilities near urban areas.

www.bearrehab.org

2014-2015 Acknowledgments