Idaho rehab center overwhelmed with black bears
GARDEN CITY, Idaho — An animal rehabilitation center is stuffed to capacity with 33 black bears.
It’s a record year for Idaho Black Bear Rehab Inc., workers said. Normally the center takes in between eight and 10 bears a year.
“Everything blossomed out of control this year,” said Sally Maughan, the center’s president.
Now Maughan is hoping the public will pitch in to help the bears.
The center, which is licensed by Idaho Fish and Game, takes in bears from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Wyoming. Maughan and the center volunteers rehabilitate the animals, bottle-feeding orphaned cubs, helping undernourished animals gain weight, and giving medicine to those that are sick. In the winter after the animal is healthy enough to survive hibernation, it is tranquilized, taken to a den in the woods, and released. Those that are not healthy enough in the winter to hibernate are released in spring, just after the spring hunt.
This year’s influx of animals was likely caused by a change in bears’ typical food sources and an attitude shift by humans, Maughan said. People today have more positive attitudes about bears, Maughan said, and will go out of their way to help orphaned or injured bears.
Maughan hopes to add on to the facility’s main enclosure, but is having trouble raising money for the project. A permanent cover, allowing the center to add more dens, is also needed, she said.
Maughan isn’t complaining about this year’s bear bonanza, though.
“I can’t imagine my life without them,” she said.
Since Idaho Black Bear Rehab Inc. began operations, the center has released 89 bears back into their natural habitat. Only two of those have become problem bears, Maughan said.
Idaho Fish and Game estimates there are about 20,000 black bears in Idaho.
Belinda Isley, a volunteer at the center, said Maughan’s work to give black bear cubs a second chance has drawn widespread acclaim.
“Sally is known as a bear rehabber,” Isley said. “She’s had great success rehabilitating them.”