After the young animal, which wildlife specialists speculated had been orphaned when its mother was hit by a car, was protected by the club’s staff, it was tranquilized and brought down from a tree. It will spend the winter at a rehabilitation center before being released back into the wild next spring.
A bear cub that may have been orphaned after its mother was hit by a car made its way onto the grounds of Missoula CC during the weekend of September 26th, reported KECI, Missoula’s NBC television station. The female cub was protected by the club’s staff so it wouldn’t wander onto any adjacent roads, KECI reported. It was then rescued from a tree by Fish, Wildlife and Parks specialists and transferred to a rehabilitation center in the Montana state capital of Helena, where KCI reported that the cub “will get fattened up and probably released into the wild next spring.”
The club’s General Manager, Chris Nowlen, told KECI that the cub “puzzled and delighted golfers” after first appearing on the property, but that “everybody was wondering where she came from.” When the bear moved off the golf course’s greens and onto a street, it got “really scary,” Nowlen said.
“We were pretty worried about it getting hit by a car,” Nowlen told KECI, “so we corralled it back into our property, and called Fish, Wildlife and Parks.”
After representatives of the agency arrived, the bear had climbed a tree on the course to rest in its top branches. FWP wildlife specialist Bob Wiesner hoisted a pole into the tree with a tranquilizer attached, KECI reported, and it didn’t take long for the cub to become groggy.
Several people below waited with a net for the bear to fall, but after she didn’t, Wiesner climbed the tree and tied her with a rope, then gently passed her down to bear specialist Jamie Jonkel.
Jonkel told KECI that the cub is probably an orphan. A number of bears have been hit in traffic nearby, and he thinks the cub’s mother was one of them.
“I’m sure she was just trying to make her way across the highway, when she got hit, and probably had a couple cubs that matched this one,” Jonkel said.
Bears have moved to lower elevations to find food, Jonkel added, although he had heard no reports of any other cubs in the area.
“All the bears have kind of shifted down below,” he said. “They’re having a tough time this year. We’re going to lose a lot of bears this year to starvation and roadkill.”
While the rescued bear was small and likely dehydrated, KECI reported that her winter-long stay in the rehabilitation center in should ensure that she will be in good shape to released back to the wild next spring.
KECI’s video report, which includes footage of the cub’s rescue, can be viewed here: http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/probable-orphan-bear-cub-finds-refuge-at-missoula-country-club/35541486
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