More Bear Releases!

The bear releases continue this week – with seven more bear yearlings out the door!

The Wildlife Center team successfully darted and loaded seven bears this morning; some of the bears had already received their pre-release exam and ear-tagging earlier this week when they were moved to Large Mammal Isolation. All bears are in good condition. A number have shown some hair loss along their flanks; the staff has noted this during the past couple of years on yearling bears in the early spring. This appears to be something that is seen in captive-raised bear cubs but has not been a long-term issue for bears once they have more room in the wild.

Today’s release group includes:

Black Bear cub #18-0345 [Green Tag]: final weight 50.9 kg
Black Bear cub #18-0346 [Orange Tag]: final weight 46.3 kg
Black Bear cub #18-0349 [No Tag]: final weight 43.7 kg
Black Bear cub #18-0350 [Pink Tag]: final weight: 32.4 kg
Black Bear cub #18-0383 [Red]: final weight 45.4 kg
Black Bear cub #18-0933 [Double Green Tags]: final weight 47.4 kg
Black Bear cub #18-1315 [Double Yellow Tags]: final weight 42.4 kg

Wildlife rehabilitators Brie and Kelsey are attending the release with DGIF biologists; hopefully we’ll have photos and/or video to share later!