NEED TO KNOW
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Three black bear cubs are now orphans after the illegal shooting of their mother
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Black Bear Rescue Manitoba is providing the “traumatized” 10-week-old cubs shelter and care as they cope with the shocking loss
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“Their world has been turned upside down, and they’re missing their mother,” said the rescue’s leader, Judy Stearns, to CBC
Three black bear cubs are confused and shaken after the tragic loss of their mother.
Black Bear Rescue Manitoba, a rescue organization based in Balmoral, Canada, recently took in three black bear cubs, each just 10 weeks old, after a shooter illegally killed their mother at the bear family’s winter den, leaving the cubs orphaned. In an April 2 Facebook post, the rescue organization shared an update on the cubs’ heartbreaking reality without their mother.
Judy Stearns, who leads Black Bear Rescue Manitoba alongside Roger Stearns, lamented the “fear-mongering” culture that likely led to the mother bear’s death, and that the family’s den location was shared across the internet, posing a threat to the bears.
“Roger and I are angered and sad for several reasons … that this bear undeservedly lost her life and her cubs were orphaned, and that Roger and I are now dealing with the resulting 3 traumatized, distressed cubs, one of whom is pictured screaming for her mother,” Judy wrote in the caption.
Orphaned bear cub.
Credit: Black Bear Rescue Manitoba/Facebook
“They’re just terribly upset,” she added, speaking with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “Their world has been turned upside down, and they’re missing their mother.”
One of the photos Judy described, shared on social media, shows one of the bear cubs in an emotional moment, apparently shrieking in someone’s arms. The other photo shows two of the cubs huddled in a corner of a habitat, with one eyeing the camera timidly.
Judy also called out the “unethical coward” who killed the mother, who was nursing her three babies at the time of her death.
“She was very vulnerable, and she wasn’t a threat to anyone. She was just nursing her cubs and minding her own business,” Judy told CBC of the mother bear. “You have to be pretty heartless to shoot a nursing mother with 10-week-old cubs.”
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Orphaned bear cubs.
Credit: Black Bear Rescue Manitoba/Facebook
Following the unlawful killing of the mother bear, the Manitoba Conservation Officer Service shared in a flyer that it is investigating the illegal shooting, which is believed to have occurred between 7:30 p.m. on March 30 and 1:00 p.m. on March 31. The organization urged anyone with information related to the crime to call the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1 (800) 782-0076.
Judy told CBC that the trio of orphaned cubs will be raised at Black Bear Rescue Manitoba in a way that will allow the cubs to return to the wilderness in the fall, before denning season.
Read the original article on People