A rare bear rescue: Manitoba wildlife group cares for abandoned 3-week-old black bear

A Manitoba wildlife group has taken in an abandoned bear cub, marking its first rescue of 2019 — a rare event this early in the year.

Black Bear Rescue Manitoba shared a video of the approximately three-week-old cub on Facebook Friday.

The yet-to-be-named male bear had to be rescued after the den — a pile of brush and logs — he shared with his mother was destroyed, said Julie Woodyer, campaign director for Zoocheck and spokesperson for Black Bear Rescue Manitoba.

The mother fled when the pile of brush and logs was dug up by the southeastern Manitoba property owner — who wasn't aware the bears had denned there — leaving the cub behind.

There's no way to return the cub to his mother, Woodyer said, so volunteers are feeding him every couple hours at the wildlife centre, located near Stonewall, in addition to burping him and allowing him to suckle.

"This is about the highest maintenance cub will probably get in. And then it'll move to just typical bottle feeding and ultimately, when it goes into the outdoor enclosure after it's weaned, it will eat a diet of native berries and so on," she said.

"Our volunteer staff are diligent about making sure that every possible need the animal could have would be met."

The cost of feeding the bear — until he is returned to the wild in November — will be around $1,500 to $2,000, Woodyer said.

She said it's unusual for a bear to be orphaned so early in the season. That usually doesn't happen until the bears come out of hibernation.

"This one is highly unusual and very rare that they end up getting dug up in a den, and certainly it wasn't this [property owner's] fault," Woodyer said.

Last year, the centre released three black bear cubs back into the wilderness with GPS-tracking collars.