New York wildlife rescue busy caring for orphaned black bears: 'Miracle they survived'
Another orphaned black bear yearling was found in Green County, New York, in March. Friends of the Feathered & Furry Wildlife Center founder David Loverde said about eight young bears have been found this season, an uptick in orphaned cubs requiring care from past years.
Black bear yearling recovering at New York wildlife rescue
Video from the Friends of the Feathered & Furry Wildlife Center shows a yearling black bear found in April after spending the winter alone. The young bear will be released back into the wild after it recovers, along with the other yearlings found this season.
HUNTER, N.Y. – A New York state wildlife rescue has cared for eight yearling or black bear cubs this winter and spring after an unusual number were found without their mothers and extremely malnourished.
Friends of the Feathered & Furry (FFF) Wildlife Center in Hunter, New York, is the only state-certified wildlife rescue still accepting black bears, but co-founder David Loverde told FOX Weather that someone needs to do it.
"They wouldn’t have made it," Loverde said after recently taking in the latest young orphaned black bear this season.
Loverde founded the FFF Wildlife Center in 2011 with his late wife, Barbara "Missy" Runyan, to rehab injured and orphaned wildlife. The nonprofit has been extremely busy over the past year caring for orphaned black bears, fox kits, bobcat kittens and all types of feathered friends.
According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Hunter Mountain Resort employees found the latest young bear along the Madison Square ski trail on March 15. Environmental Conservation police officers responded and contacted Friends of the Feathered & Furry Wildlife Center to help with the cub.
Left: A black bear yearling recovering at Friends of the Feathered & Furry Wildlife Center in Hunter, New York. On right: David Loverde carries the malnourished cub out of the woods with a New York wildlife conservation police officer.
(FFF Wildlife Center / FOX Weather)
The cub was so weak that he could barely walk and weighed only 15 pounds, little enough that Loverde carried him out of the woods by hand. He said he believes the cub survived a very cold winter alone after losing his mother and barely finding enough nutrition until warmer weather arrived.
"If that bear was with its mother, it would be 40-50 pounds," Loverde said.
The black bear was so frail that he couldn't eat solid food. Loverde and volunteers nourished the young bear with baby food and formula until he could eat solids.
Now, the little bear is up to 21 pounds. He is enjoying exploring his outdoor enclosure until he can be introduced to the other bears rescued by FFF this winter and released back into the wild.
Loverde said in previous seasons about three yearlings have been found and taken in by FFF Wildlife Center.
Without FFF, these young bears would likely not have survived the cold winter.
"It's a miracle they survived," Loverde said. "Bears lose about one-third of their weight in winter."
Loverde couldn't speculate about what happened to the orphaned bear cubs' mothers, but there are many environmental and human risks to wildlife.
These young bears will eventually be released back into the wild as soon as they are ready.
As the only New York state wildlife center rehabilitating bears, FFF Wildlife Center relies on donations and volunteers to do the work they do. If you want to help FFF Wildlife Center continue its work, the nonprofit accepts donations on its website.