Rehab for Bears

     In early August, a hiker was killed and fed on by a grizzly bear. She was later shot and killed, leaving her cubs alone and orphans. Thankfully, a rehab facility in British Columbia, Canada called Northern-Lights rehab program, agreed to adopt these two cubs into there program. This rehab isn't any normal rehabilitation center you are thinking of. This rehab takes in orphaned cubs with troubled pasts and gives them a second chance at wildlife. Even though these two cubs were from the United States and not Canada, they were allowed in because over 200,000 people signed a petition to get these cubs taken care of. This facility allows cubs to grow and build up there physical weight and size so they can fend for themselves when released back into the wild. They are given a variety of food, stimulated challenges they will encounter in their environment, scavenge for insects from logs and climb trees. 
     Recent debates on whether bears being raised in captivity then released back into the wild has a high, life expectancy and if the money spent is worth it. I feel as though if we have the money to open hundreds of rehabilitation centers for us, for plenty of reasons, we should be able to open a few for grizzly bears and other bears who are endangered. What side of the debate would you land on?


Suzy the five-month-old grizzly bear was the first cub admitted to Northern Lights' rehab program.
                                     Photograph by Angelika Langen, Northern Lights Wildlife Society