Judy Kearns was involved in an issue with an orphaned black bear cub back in 2012 and that was when she realized that Manitoba was one of the only provinces at that point in Canada that didn't have a bear rehabilitation facility.
So six years later in 2018, Judy and her husband started their own facility in Stonewall and to date, Judy and her husband have raised and released 27 bears. At this point, they have two yearlings that came in last December and they have seven cubs that were born back in January.
On May 22, someone took the life of a female bear, which had three cubs in the Grandview area. Two of the cubs were caught and sent to Black Bear Rescue Manitoba while the search for the third cub continued. Three days later, the third cub was found and reunited with its two siblings. One of the males is 11 pounds while the second is 7.8 pounds and the lone female cub is 9.6 pounds.
At this point, conservation officers are looking for the suspect that killed the mother. Anyone with information about the incident please call the TIP line; 1-800-782-0076. You do not have to leave your name.
The three cubs are being called the "Z" family and all cubs will have names starting with the letter z. Judy Kearns, owner says the cubs are getting more comfortable every day.
"They're still a bit traumatized and that's understandable because their mom is their entire world," said Kearns. "Thank goodness someone found them in time and conservation officers did a great job catching all three."
They will keep the cubs until late October or early November, right before bears make dens to hibernate for the winter. Bear sightings are frequent in parts of the province during the summer months and Judy says everyone should always be looking out for orphaned cubs.
If a cub is walking around without its mother, that is often a red flag because mothers would normally put their cubs high up in trees away from predators.
"If you see cubs walking around on the ground where they're most vulnerable to predators, you should call conservation, just in case," said Kearns. "Even if that cub isn't orphaned, it's still a good idea to call because officers will know."
A registered charity, Black Bear Rescue Manitoba runs solely on donations as they don't get any money from the government. Judy says they're always accepting donations and you can donate by heading to their Facebook page.
