Walking The Bears.pdf

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ValentinS.Pazhetnov(68),wifeSveltlana(62),son Sergey (42), grandson Valia (22) constitute 3 generationstohavestudiedbrownbearsinthewildin Russia.Valentinhasworkedatdifferentpositionsas bearbiologistwiththeGovernmentalagenciesandhe wasadirectoroftheCentral–ForestStateNature BiosphereReservebeforehisretirement.Itwashis visionandmissiontorehabilitatebrownbearcubs,so oftenorphanedasaresultoftheyearlylegalwinter bearhunt(trophyhunt)thatstartsintheDecemberand endsonthelastdayofFebruary.Thehuntersgeta licensefromtheForestDepartmentthatcostsaround US$45.Intheory,10%ofthebearpopulationcanbe takenasaresultofthishunt.Forinstance,theTver regionhasawildbearpopulationof1800,180licenses areissuedperhuntingseason.Butinpractice,more thantheprescribednumberofbearsgetkilledbecause thereisalsoillegalhuntingoccuring.Also,ashunters takethebigsizedbears,sightingsoflargerbearshave becomeararity.Justafewkilometersfromthe Reserve,weweredismayedtofindinaroadsideshop ontheMoscowhighway,aBearskinwithheadforsale forUS$1000,alongwithotherskinsandpeltsincluding lynxandmink.Thereapparedaquiteafewshopsin thevicinitydoingalucrativebusiness.Itistheorphaned cubsthatdeeplymovedValentintostartuphis BiologicalstationatChistyles(Cleanforest),150km fromtheCentralReservein1985. Interestingly,Valentinstartedhislifeoutinthewildasa hunterin1960.“IbecameahunterbecauseIlovedlife inthewilds.ImetSvetlanaatadancethenightbefore IwasduetomovetoSiberiatoajobasaprofessional hunter.Iaskedherifshewantedtocomealongandto mygreatjoyandsurpriseshesaidyesimmediately.We wentthenextday.”(ascitedbyElanderetal,2002) Thecouplelivedinatentthefirstfewyearsonthe banksoftheYeniseiRiveramongtheEvenkpeople whoarerenownedashunterswithhonor.TheEvenk neverkilledwildliferecklesslyandinfacttheword “killed”wasanathematothehuntersoftheyore. Huntingwasaprivilegebestowedonthoseselect membersofthecommunitywhoprovidedfortheir dependents.Themomentgreedovertookthehunter andhe“killed”hiscareerashuntergotkilled.They don’tmakehuntersofyorethesedays. Valentinspentafewyearsstudyingzoologyand ecologyinMoscowtoacquireadeeperunderstanding ofhisforestenvironment.Duringhisfieldstudies, Valentinaccidentallyscaredafemalebearfromher den,leavingbehindthreeabandonedcubs.Hetook thembacktohistent,keepingthemtherewithhim twonights.Whenthemotherdidnotreturn,hepacked upandleftwiththecubsintow.Thatwasthestartof thebrownbear’strystwithValentin’sdestiny. (Elander,etal2002). He says, “We base our fostering on me being their instructor but under no circumstances their mother,” Valentin goes on to explain, “It’s about keeping a clear distance between us and the bears. We want to avoid any kind of dependency or even familiarity with human traits. They’d start to think people were their parents and would seek them out for the rest of their lives. And then you could guarantee there’d be no happy endings.” (as cited by Elander et al, 2002). This concept is diametrically opposite to the rehabilitation model of other wildlife species such as the African Elephant. Daphne Sheldrick, for instance espouses the mothering orphan elephant calves until they are ready to reintegrate with wild herds, and rightly so. Whereas it takes 6 to 7 years for Daphne to rehabilitate an elephant calf, Valentin takes 6 to 7 months to rehabilitate a bear cub. Elephants are a highly social species and have a longer life span, whereas bears are solitary and have a considerably shorter life span. This difference in behavioral and social organization provides evidence that both are right in their own way. 3. The Fine Print Wildlife rehabilitators learn early on that the animals they work on should never be imprinted on people. But they also must remember that the imprinting of the mother’s image is the major element of behavioral stereotype formation, a safety feature wired by nature intoeveryanimal.Thisfeatureisofspecialimportance for a young animal ensuring the highest degree of safety, especially at an early period in its life. When a family migrates to a new place and the loss of a cub is highlyprobable(especiallyinabigfamily),theimprint of the mother provides secure contact between the cub and the female bear and urges the cub to follow her about. Bearsarenottruehibernatorsas bats,smallrodentsandshrewsthat gocomatoseduringthisperiod.This phenomenonhasbeengivennames suchas“dormancy,”“heavysleep,” “carnivoreanlethargy,”and “seasonalursinetorpor.” No moving object, even a potentially dangerous one causes the reaction of avoidance in bear cubs (in other animals, too). Formation of main defensive reactions subsides when the cubs are 5 months old. At this age, they are capable of evading danger themselves by hidinginthethicketsorbtclimbingtrees.Atanageof about 1.5 years, the cubs’ link with their mothers weakens considerably. 4. The sleep of life Bears are not true hibernators as bats, small rodents and shrews that go comatose during this period. This phenomenon has been given names such as “dormancy,” “heavy sleep,” “carnivorean lethargy,” and “seasonal ursine torpor.” Nevertheless, hibernation is a good word for it. It is a state of dormancy and inactivity that is utilized by bears and various other animals to adapt to short winter food supplies. “Hibernation is not so much a response to extreme cold as to a seasonal shortage of food” notes Paul Schullery in The Bears of Yellowstone (as cited by Brown, 1993). “The bear’s warm coat is as necessary to it in the den as it would be outside.”
Cub characteristics at birth: (Brown, 1993) A study of American black bear cub’s characteristics at birth was conducted in Pennsylvania by research biologist Gary Alt. While the brown bear may den as early as September infarnorthernregions,theAsiaticblackbeardoesnot hibernate over most of range (Elman, 1992). A brown bearsowwithcubsmightgetkilledwhile“atden”and her cubs may end up at the Pazhetnovs. A problem Valentinhasalsofoundisthatbearsseekthecompany ofhumansaftertheirrelease.Conversely,abearwakes up from hibernation with a fear of humans. Research has shown that its wild traits get activated after hibernation. Thus a problem bear would get a second chanceinthePazhetnovmodelandtheytriedeliciting a similar response from the Asiatic black bear without success. If a 2 month-old bear cub weighing 6 kg tugs at your heartstrings for being the cuddliest of all young mammals, a one day old bear cub will not cease to amaze you. It will weigh about 16 ounces (1/720 of sow’s weight), lightly furred, and is 9 inches long. It would require the best skills of a rehabilitator to be able to hand raise this orphan bear cub. It happens to be the fosuc of Valentin and Svetlana. Cases at OBRC One-third of the rescued bear cubs were in the age group of 61-90 days (2-3 months), while 30% were of the age group 31 to 60 days (1-2 months). The cubs of the age group 91 to 150 days (3-5 months) constituted 16% of the rescues. 11% of the cubs were newborn or below the age of 1 month. The OBRC rescued only 8% cubs aged up to one-year of age and a mere 2% of cubs above one-year of age (Fig 1). This is quite unlike in CBRC, India where the average age at rescue is about 8 months. Handling, care and maintenance of cubs When the cubs arrive at OBRC, they are thoroughly examined and the newborn are handled with special care.Thecubisliftedinhandwithitsheadtowardyou, yourpalmplacedunderitschestwithcarenottoapply pressuretoitschestorneck.Payheedtotheumbilicus and do not damage it when it is still raw and wet. Fig 1 Age at rescue (days) (N=123)
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WALKING THE BEARS RehabilitationofA
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CONTENTS PREFACE 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Page 6 and 7:
PREFACE Bears have been rehabilitat
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Rapid population
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initiative of the Deputy Chief Wild
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Fig 1.2. CBRC being inaugurated by
Page 14 and 15: Fig1.5 The solar fencing around the
Page 16 and 17: Curt Clumpner, founder and former d
Page 18 and 19: prevent the bears from digging thei
Page 20 and 21: CHAPTER 2 Getting the science right
Page 22 and 23: Fig 2.2 One of the bears during in-
Page 24 and 25: Fig 2.3 Asiatic black bear cub, few
Page 26 and 27: situ acclimatization site along wit
Page 28 and 29: 3.1 Age at arrival CHAPTER 3 The Be
Page 30 and 31: Fig 3.3. A bear cub at CBRC with al
Page 32 and 33: Table 3.2 Oftedal’s classificatio
Page 34 and 35: Proportion Fig 3.8 Dietary composit
Page 36 and 37: abilities and predator avoidance. T
Page 38 and 39: Ofallthesementionedabove,threefacto
Page 40 and 41: Fig 4.4 Sergey Pazhetnov during his
Page 42 and 43: PicturesTamoDadda/WTI Fig 4.5 Monoc
Page 44 and 45: Table 4.3 Abundance of wild food it
Page 46 and 47: Fig 5.2 Bear cubs being carried to
Page 49 and 50: gradually. Their return to shelter
Page 51 and 52: consideration while preparing the p
Page 53 and 54: IUCN, 2002. IUCN Guidelines for the
Page 55 and 56: Schematic architectural layout of t
Page 57 and 58: Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and
Page 59 and 60: PROFORMA 2. REHABILITATION, BIOLOGI
Page 61 and 62: Appendix IV Bear Essentials EN ROUT
Page 63: 1. Introduction As I peck away on a
Page 67 and 68: Dutiesofthetrainees 1. Preparefeeda
Page 69 and 70: Fig 2. Age at release in months (N=
Page 71 and 72: The three bears, Vierra(Faith) Nadi
Page 73 and 74: Annexure 1 Feed Formulation at OBRC
Page 79 and 80: Appendix V Report on the Internatio
Page 81 and 82: Acknowledgements Theworkshopbrought
Page 83: 2. Aims and objectives The aim of t
Page 86 and 87: therefore not comprehensive on any
Page 88 and 89: 2. Bear rehabilitation in Hargita C
Page 91 and 92: AshrafNVK/WTI AshrafNVK/WTI AshrafN
Page 93 and 94: 4. Kilham rehabilitation center, NH
Page 95 and 96: NLRC,Canada
Page 98 and 99: 7. Wildlife Rehabilitation "Outes',
Page 100 and 101: 9. Centre for Bear Rehabilitation &
Page 102 and 103: ABP,Ecuador ABP,Ecuador 1½
Page 104 and 105: 6.2. Care and rehabilitation: Criti
Page 106 and 107: ABP,Ecuador Post-weaning diet of co
Page 108 and 109: The cubs are released at seven or e
Page 110 and 111: Ifhabituatedadultorsubadult bearsar
Page 112 and 113: Table: Release age of different spe
Page 114 and 115:
AshrafNVK/WTI Sloth bear cubs and A
Page 116 and 117:
Asiatic black bear being taken for
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(ii)Brown bear: In Romania, with ra
Page 120 and 121:
Peyton, B. and Plenge, H. 2005. Cap
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34.Kati LOEFFLER Director of Veteri
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Deadly Tracks: A scientific approac
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