Grizzly Bear emerging from hibernation

[Catherine]

The Kicking Horse Mountain resort has a 20 acre area called the Kicking horse Grizzly Bear Refuge. They take in orphaned grizzly cubs. Boo the bear has been living there for 20 years. He was orphaned as a 5 month old cub. The resort has cameras set up so they can watch the bears and learn about them.
This year they got a video of Boo putting his head out after waking from his 4 month sleep.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-grizz...tion-video

He looks pretty good after his long nap. He looks a little wide eyed and not quite alert yet, but still pretty good.
Seeing a bear wake up like that is something most of us will never see in person. Grizzlies are big bears. Maybe seeing a video is as close as we want to get.

It is beautiful that the resort has created a space for the bears that need it. Boo would not have survived on his own. Now he has had 20 years and who knows how many more to come.

[LPC]

Was he an orphan because his parents had been shot by hunters?

[Catherine]

Quote:Was he an orphan because his parents had been shot by hunters?

It is possible. Grizzly cubs live with their mothers. They never know their fathers. The mother could have been shot. There are other possible causes of death.
Most likely a human caused the death, either directly or indirectly.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/humans-l...s-1.531755

Grizzly bears have had it tough because of human interference. We destroy their habitats and now climate change is interfering with their food supply.
Boo Bear is 20 years old so it is more likely to be hunters.

An interesting observation, I believe the Stephen Herrero mentioned in the article was teaching ecology at the University of Calgary when I studied biology in the 1970s. It is nice to think that he is still around and still active in his field.