Black bear cubs euthanized
Two weeks-old black bear cubs were euthanized by officials at the B.C. Wildlife Park on Monday, Feb. 20, after being abandoned by their mother near Logan Lake.
"There was a logging operation that was loading up some logs and some bears had denned up in there — a mother and two cubs," said Glenn Grant, general manager of the B.C. Wildlife Park.
"She took off, so the cubs were then brought to us."
Grant said the animals, which were found at a logging site near the Highland Valley Copper mine, were driven to Kamloops by the wife of the logger who discovered them.
"They looked to be just a few weeks old," Grant said.
"Their eyes were still shut."
Officials at the park called the Ministry of Environment for direction.
"We don't rehabilitate bears," Grant said, explaining the closest such facility is in Smithers.
"The decision was made to euthanize the bears based on future public safety."
Grant said the cubs would have had to have been bottle-fed for up to a year, meaning they would then associate humans with food.
"The prognosis for them to have human contact in the future was pretty great," he said.
"They [the ministry] thought it best they were euthanized humanely from the onset. It wasn't the park's decision, but we support it."
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