CBC
Tue, January 7, 2025
A black bear cub that was brought to Hope for Wildlife, an animal rehabilitation centre in Seaforth, N.S., in 2020. After notifying the Department of Natural Resources that they had taken the cub into their care, the cub was picked up by the department and later euthanized. (Submitted by George Ryan - image credit)
An animal rehabilitation centre on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore is looking forward to the opportunity to rehabilitate orphaned black bear cubs as the Department of Natural Resources readies to issue required permits as early as this spring.
"It's very exciting for us to think that we're that close finally," said Hope Swinimer, founder of Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth, N.S.
"The message it sends, that our government is saying, hey, it is important that we do help, that these animals aren't destroyed. There is an option. It costs government no money at all. Let's take these steps and move forward," she said.
Swinimer said she has received a handful of calls each year about black bear cubs in distress, but her facility has been unable to offer help to the animals because Nova Scotia is one of a handful of provinces and territories that do not rehabilitate black bears that are injured, or cubs if they are orphaned.
Hope Swinimer is excited about the chance to rehabilitate black bear cubs at Hope for Wildlife. (CBC)
An emailed statement to CBC from the province's Department of Natural Resources said the Houston government made a promise as part of its mandate when elected in 2021 "to provide options for regulated wildlife centres to rehabilitate orphaned bear cubs."
The department is confident it will be ready "to provide permits to facilities" by the spring, the statement said.
Bear cub rehabilitation has been a controversial subject in Nova Scotia, most notably after an orphaned black bear cub was taken from Hope for Wildlife and euthanized in 2020.
Soon after, the wildlife refuge submitted a proposal to the provincial government asking permission to rehabilitate orphaned cubs. It was denied the following year.
Swinimer said a change in policy will help the facility further its mission.
"We're really hoping that if this does go forward, it will help in so many ways that we never saw possible," she said.
Brenda Boates says Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre will not be applying for a permit to rehabilitate bear cubs. (CBC)
Brenda Boates, the wildlife operations manager at Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, said her facility in Brookfield, N.S., will not be applying for a permit to rehabilitate bears.
"We rely on volunteers, donations and fundraising. So we don't have the facility, the space or the money to put up a building to house these cubs by themselves and we certainly don't have the staff to support that," said Boates.
The Cobequid centre rehabilitates birds, amphibians, reptiles and some mammals.
Boates expressed some reservations about the prospect of rehabilitating bears in Nova Scotia, raising concerns about how a bear's survival skills might be negatively impacted by excessive human contact or the danger of relocating an animal in another bear's territory.
But she said it could work if done properly.
"There are a lot of really good rehabbers that do it successfully. And there's a lot of really good wildlife rehab institutes. By that I mean big large places that take multiple species with acres and acres and acres of land that do it quite successfully," said Boates.
Swinimer said much of the hard work has already been done at Hope for Wildlife.
"A lot of the staff I've hired through the years have had experience working with black bears and we've learnt a lot on cage design, how to keep an animal safe, how to keep the animals that are naturally, naturally around us safe, how to keep the public safe," she said.
Swinimer said a number of established bear rehabilitation centres have reached out to her offering guidance on how to build an appropriate facility.
Rehabilitating orphaned cubs can be challenging and "must be done very carefully," making the creation of proper policies and procedures important, the Natural Resources Department said in its statement.
The department stressed that Nova Scotians who believe they've found an orphaned bear cub should contact Natural Resources and not attempt to take the cub themselves because the mother is likely to be nearby.
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