Just 12 days after an orphaned black bear was returned to the wild following a year-long rehabilitation at the Cochrane Ecological Institute, it was shot and killed after wandering onto private property nearly 120 kilometres from its drop-off point.
According to Jess Sinclair, press secretary for the Minister of Environment and Parks, it was unlike a bear to travel such a far distance in a short amount of time. The bear, Charlie, came too close to children, which Sinclair said made it “clear that it was habituated to people.”
However, Lisa Dahlseide, education co-ordinator with CEI, maintains the incident could have been avoided if the government had arranged for a proper release date and better handling of the situation. Dahlseide said she doesn’t believe Charlie was “habituated.”
“Just because the bear walks through somebody's property does not mean that they are habituated,” she said. “I think…Environment and Parks [needs to] reevaluate how they identify that term and how they use it, because it's often used to justify killing an animal – I think that's incorrect.”
Charlie was one of two bears that were rehabilitated at the institute after the government introduced new legislation in 2018 to allow for the practice, following a rehabilitation ban that had been in place since 2012. Charlie arrived at the facility in May 2018 and a female bear named Maskwa arrived a month later. The bears were kept at the facility until they were deemed healthy and fit to be released back into the wild.
At 16 months old, the bears were released separately in remote areas of southwest Alberta – similar to the areas where they were found, Sinclair said. Still, CEI maintains the process wasn’t ideal for the bears. Dahlseide said the bears should have been released to the Kainai Nation, which was interested in allowing the bears on its land if they were returned to the wild during the winter – a more appropriate time of year, according to Dahlseide.
“Had the government honoured that request, then Charlie and Maskwa would have been released in their second winter while hibernating,” she said. “It would have been a stress-free process for them, because they'd be sleeping – they wouldn't have needed to be tranquilized and scared.”
Dahlseide admitted she is concerned Charlie’s death could be used to reintroduce restrictions on the rehabilitation of black bears in Alberta – like coyotes, cougars and grizzly bears, which are still banned – but said she hopes that isn’t the case.
“I know that there's resistance to [the program] within the department already, and they were just waiting for an excuse to throw out the term ‘habituation’ and to overuse that term and use it to their advantage to shut down the program,” she said. “I hope they recognize that would be a mistake.”
As part of the release, the bears were equipped with radio collars to track their progress. According to Sinclair, Maskwa is doing well and will continue to be monitored “to see if there are signs of habituation or moving into areas where she may come into conflict with people.” So far, she said, the female bear has remained close to its drop-off point, far from “possible human interaction.”
Dahlseide’s hope is Maskwa will thrive and that, after the government’s investigation, the province will continue its partnership with CEI and rehabilitate more bears.
“However, they need to work better with the rehabbers themselves,” she said. “Had they worked with us for the release details and honoured the extreme expertise that we hold in bear rehabilitation and relief, then this could have been avoided.”
She noted when CEI released bears between 1985 and 2012, the organization never lost an animal.
According to Alberta Environment and Parks, no charges will be laid in the shooting of the bear. Sinclair added no further details will be released regarding the shooting at this time, in an effort to respect the privacy of the family.
Dahlseide, who said she was upset with how the situation played out, believes the incident can help ensure the release process is handled more appropriately moving forward.
“My first reaction was that I was in shock and then it was lots and lots of tears – lots of anger,” she said. “But, now that I've had some time to process it, I do forgive the landowner because I know that his decision was based out of irrational fear. I just hope that everybody can learn some lessons from this unfortunate tragedy.”
