Orphaned bear cub found in Shumacher last year goes back into the wild

Tuesday was a significant one for a young bear orphan in northern Ontario. In the afternoon, he was released back into the wild — after many months spent at a bear facility in the Muskokas. 

The 5 lb cub was found on May 1, 2019, by Timmins police officers.

"Constable Tony Chilton responded to a call in regards to an animal in distress on Dwyer Street, which is located in Schumacher," said Marc Depatie, spokesperson with the Timmins Police Service.

"The cub was very much in distress. It had become separated from his mother. There was no sign of her in the immediate area. And days afterwards, there was still no sign of the mom."

Depatie says the officer thought it was a cat in distress.

"Because it was such a high-pitched scream ... they thought it was probably a cat that had been hit by a car, or something like that, and made its way into this breezeway off of this house in Schumacher," he said.

"But that simply wasn't the case. It turned out to be a very young bear cub in significant distress. And as I said, reasonable efforts were undertaken to locate the mom, but that didn't occur in the future."

The wee bear was "taken into custody without incident" and turned over to the province's Bear Wise technicians with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Depatie says the bear was turned over to local MNRF workers, who brought the cub to the "Bear With Us" bear habitat facility in the Muskokas, run by Mike and Ella McIntosh.

The cub was nursed back to health.

"It was severely dehydrated when it was located by our officers. So the immediate needs were tended to and it's been deemed that this bear can care for itself, and can maintain its its own well-being in the wild," he said.

The bear was given the name "Dwight" after a mix-up in communication stemming from Dwyer Street being misunderstood as the animal's name.

"Dwight was released back into the wild around Matachewan earlier this week," Depatie said.

"He didn't venture too far into the bush initially and had to be constantly pushed along so that he would acquire his new home."

Depatie says the number of bear calls to police continues to rise from year to year, but to recover a young cub in distress was "rather unique. That doesn't always occur."

For those who may spot a bear in the future, Depatie recommends they call Bearwise. But if the animal is posing a threat to a person's property or anyone else's well-being, "then obviously that is a police call and we will attend that in a timely fashion."