3 Orphaned Bear Cubs Removed From Estes Park

SAN LUIS VALLEY, CO – Three orphaned bear cubs were transferred from Estes Park and moved to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Frisco Creek wildlife facility near Del Norte in the San Luis Valley after their mother was euthanized Aug. 30.

The cubs are getting a "new lease on life," CPW said, in spite of their mother's proclivity for breaking into homes. The sow was nicknamed "Scarface"because of wounds on her snout from a run-in with a power line two years ago. Mom had tried to break into a home on Ponderosa Drive in Estes Park. It was her third reported residential break-in of the summer; she had also caused damage at a local business in her search of food, CPW said.

Scarface's evident comfort around humans made her a risk to health and safety in Estes Park.

“She had become habituated to people and had associated humans with food,” said Kristin Cannon, area wildlife manager for CPW in a statement. “She posed a safety risk to the public and we felt compelled to act to protect the community. We also hope that by removing the cubs from this situation, they will not repeat the behavior of their mother and will have a higher chance of survival over the long term.”

At the rehabilitation center, the cubs will be isolated from people to "deter habituation," CPW said. The Frisco Creek Center also prepares these cubs for winter hibernation.

According to CPW, in a typical year, the facility ends up with 15-20 black bear cubs that they prepare to survive a winter’s hibernation on their own.

Michael Sirochman, Frisco Creek wildlife facility manager, said the facility is built to keep the cubs away from human contact.

“To prevent habituation, we are very strict about keeping people away from the bears. We also have the enclosures set up with visual barriers,” he said, so the cubs cannot see the working staff. “We will have two pens adjacent to each other and when the bears hear us, they generally will retreat to the farther pen, just to get away from the sound of humans. We are trying to preserve that instinct to avoid humans."

The next step is to continue to build on the bears' natural instincts and pack on the pounds before winter.

“A lot of this isn’t really taught, they just know to follow their nose to food and we try to provide the widest variety of natural forage that we can so that they have experience with those things,” Sirochman said in a statement. “When they smell them one day, they remember: ‘Ah ha, gooseberries are good and I’m going to go eat them.’ ”

The food consists of whole berry bushes or rose hips shoved into the pens, "so the cubs actually pick the berries off and get poked by the thorns, making it a realistic experience," CPW said. Monte Vista Fish Hatchery also provides fish.

“This time of year, since we are in hyperphagia, they are really keyed in on food,” Sirochman said.

The cubs are also fed a commercial bear food to bulk up to 60 lbs. for a female and 70 lbs. for a male, the agency said. The cubs will need to put on 30-40 lbs. by the end of September.

“Visually, they are very healthy cubs,” Sirochman said. “Some of the cubs we get have been orphaned for weeks without mom and they are starving. These went straight from mom to us so there was no lag time for them to get hungry.”

According to CPW, in 2012, the facility released 20 cubs, equipped with ear-tag transmitters, into the wild. All 20 cubs survived the winter.

In 2017, the center rehabilitated two orphaned cubs taken from Hermit Park Open Space just east of Estes Park.

“They came from near Estes Park and they were returned to the same area later that year,” said Sirochman. “We are not taking them away. We are not putting them in a zoo. We are not killing them. We are successfully returning them to the wild, once they are ready to be self-sufficient.”

Next spring, when released near Estes Park, these cubs will still have white ear-tags on them to signal they are "rehabilitated" cubs.

“They are going to hibernate all winter, they are going to turn their fat into all the energy and water they need,” Sirochman said. “One of the things a little bit of the research I’ve seen has shown, is that the longer they can go between the release and encountering humans for the first time, the greater the likelihood that they will respond like a wild bear that wants to avoid people.”

As for the city of Estes Park, Wildlife Officer Cannon said residents needed to be "bear aware" to help prevent future conflicts.

“It is imperative that the residents of Estes Park work to secure their garbage and houses to make town less appealing to the cubs and other bears,” she said.

Image via Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Stay up-to-date with Colorado news with Patch! There are many ways for you to connect and stay in touch: Newsletters and Email Alerts|Facebook