Abstract 180 – American black bear cub rehabilitation and release: Jurisdictional practices across North America

Andrea Morehouse, Mark Mallory, Andrew Derocher, Mark Edwards, Tricia
Fleming, Martyn Obbard

Rehabilitation and release back to the wild of orphaned American black bear (Ursus
americanus) cubs is a management option used across North America. We reviewed the
literature and surveyed wildlife managers and biologists within North America to gather
information on their policies and practices regarding rehabilitation and release of orphaned
black bear cubs. We define cubs as bears <1 year old but note that most releases happen when
the animals are yearlings. The literature suggests that when rehabilitation follows science-
based protocols, it is a feasible management option, and rehabilitated cubs survive at rates
similar to those of their wild counterparts, die of similar causes, and generally have low rates of
conflicts with humans. Repeatedly mentioned within both the literature and survey results was
the importance of minimizing human contact and selecting appropriate release sites that
consider habitat, food availability, proximity to humans, and the age structure, genetics, and
density of black bears in the release area. We received 99 responses from 63 different
jurisdictions. Rehabilitation of orphaned black bear cubs was allowed in 72.5% of surveyed
jurisdictions with a breeding black bear population. In 82.3% of jurisdictions, a government
agency was responsible for selecting release sites. The most common causes identified by our
survey for cubs being orphaned were vehicle collisions (50 of 63 responses) and removal of
mothers because of conflict behavior (35 of 63 responses). Almost all (96.9%) jurisdictions
required rehabilitation centers to be licensed. On average, over the past 5 years (2018–2022),
most (70.8%) jurisdictions rehabilitated <25 orphaned cubs. Lack of rehabilitation centers
following strict, science-based protocols was a frequently mentioned challenge, as was
managing public expectations. Despite these challenges, most (61%) respondents said
rehabilitation of orphaned black bear cubs was either somewhat or very successful.