ROTHENBURGER: The story of a bear named Little John and his long journey to safety

We were also told to feed him only a very little at a time, as his stomach wasn’t used to a lot of food after he emerged too early from hibernation due to malnourishment. Hence, only a couple of small bites. The object was to cause him as little stress as possible and keep him comfortable on his bed of straw, with plenty of water and occasional snacks.

Little John, as he was later named, had been seen in Crawford Bay, a community of 350 on Kootenay Lake. His mother was probably shot or run over last fall, but he managed to go into hibernation. Without the warmth of his mother, and without enough fat on his small body, he woke up before he should have.

Food was scarce and his prospects were bleak. Fortunately, an organization called Northern Lights Wildlife Society has volunteers in the area who set a trap — it’s actually the same container as the crate — and he was captured in short order.

Within a couple of hours, drivers were lined up in a well-organized chain all the way to Smithers, where the society has its refuge. Kelly, who has worked with Northern Lights for the past couple of years, called me Friday night last week and asked if I’d like to come on the Kamloops-to-Cache Creek leg with her.

So, the next morning, we met a couple who had driven from Revelstoke with the little bear and we transferred him into the back of my pickup and strapped it securely down for the next stage of the epic trip. From Cache Creek, he would be driven to 100 Mile for another transfer, then to Williams Lake, then Quesnel, Prince George, and finally Smithers.

I first wrote about orphaned bears in November 2021 when Kelly noticed a cub near her home at Rivershore that was obviously orphaned and starving. She and other residents begged the Conservation office for permission to have the bear — which was likely only days away from death — captured and taken to Northern Lights.

Government policy is to leave the bears to fend for themselves whenever possible but the local Conservation office finally relented and all turned out well.

Little John is the second yearling this year to be taken in by Northern Lights.

After he arrived at the society’s facility in Smithers late last Saturday night, he received a medical checkup. He weighed only 33 pounds; he should weigh 50 to 60. Sadly, it was also found that he’d been shot several times with a pellet gun.

While it’s a stupid and cruel thing to do to one little bear, Angelika Langen, the manager and co-founder of Northern Lights, told me that people sometimes think shooting a bear with pellets will simply scare it away and won’t actually harm it but, in fact, the pellets lodge in the skin and can cause serious infection.

Thankfully, the pellets in Little John were found in time and removed and the wounds disinfected. Now, he will be fed and cared for in a way that will avoid him becoming habituated to humans.

So, this story has a happy ending but it illustrates a problem with provincial policy. The rules around rescuing orphaned bears need to be changed. In the case of yearlings, it’s a deadline issue. Current policy doesn’t permit wildlife rescue centres (there are three in B.C. that accept orphaned bear cubs) to take black bear yearlings later than Feb. 28.

The rehab refuges want the deadline extended to the end of May to give orphaned yearling cubs a fighting chance. While wildlife officials have been accommodating lately in allowing exemptions to the current rule, getting the red tape cut can be chancy depending on when an orphan needs help.

Little John’s plight resulted in quick action on a permit exemption but “that’s not always the case,” she says.

Langen notes that these bears are the same age as ones orphaned and captured the previous fall. The difference is that the ones taken into care last fall have to winter and hibernate at the refuges before release. Cubs that are trapped in the spring are in care for only a few weeks.

“By not helping them we purposely create nuisance bears that then get killed as a danger to the public,” Langen says.

“These cubs have already proven to be survivors by getting themselves through hibernation without a mother or siblings. They will be at the shelter only a very short time, which greatly reduces any risk of habituation.”

Thanks to the outstanding efforts of Northern Lights, Little John and another yearling orphan named Wendy (the society is using a Disney theme for naming its ursine guests this year) will likely be ready for release back into their home territories in June.

The question remains, will others still out there be as lucky?

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: The story of a bear named Little John and his long journey to safety

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