Hope is fading for three orphaned black bear cubs in Whistler.
The cubs are presumed orphaned after the Conservation Officer Service (COS) shot a lactating female black bear on the evening of April 28. Officers euthanized the bear after a woman was knocked down and bitten in Kadenwood, a forested neighbourhood connected to Whistler Mountain that largely consists of second homes. The woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The cubs were captured on video last week by a construction worker, seen crying beside a tree.
Local wildlife advocates Ellie Lamb and Tina James have spent the past week searching for the cubs on foot. Despite at least one sighting by construction workers, there have been no publicly reported sightings since.
The COS placed a live trap and borrowed two specialized cub traps from Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley in an effort to capture the animals last week. The service has since called off its ground search and removed the traps.
“The cubs have not been located, and no new reports have been received. A live trap has now been pulled from the area, due in part to the potential of catching other bears in the area,” the COS said in an emailed statement.
Gale Martin, executive director of the wildlife rehabilitation centre, said Critter Care was contacted on either Monday, April 28 or Tuesday, April 29 by the COS and informed that three bear cubs might be incoming. When Critter Care staff followed up on April 29 to determine a timeline for their arrival, they were told the COS had lost track of the cubs.
Martin said she has unanswered questions about what happened.
“This whole thing is bizarre. You just don’t lose three bear cubs. People have been all over the area—community members brought a drone with infrared, and they couldn’t find anything either,” she said.
With 40 years of rehabilitation experience, Martin said bear cubs don’t leave an area with their mother’s scent.
“He should have left the body for a day, and the cubs would have stayed, and he could have rescued them. I feel such sadness for the people of Whistler who have gone out of their way to find these animals and for the mother being shot and these babies having no help, if they are still out there,” she said.
Lamb and James have continued searching using a drone and a dog, but to no avail.
West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy Valeriote said he wants to see more funding for COS officers in the Sea to Sky.
“I defer to conservation officers and scientists, but it’s heart-wrenching the sow was killed. We need more funding for officers here—the Sea to Sky isn’t properly serviced by the COS. I also wish qualified biologists could help during searches,” Valeriote said.
If the cubs are spotted again, the COS said the matter will be referred to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, as the animals are not currently considered a threat to public safety.
“If the cubs are located, they will be assessed for rehabilitation at a permitted rearing facility, as per the Orphaned Black Bear Cub guidelines,” the service said.
Ken Macquisten, a veterinarian with Critter Care, said there needs to be more transparency around how officials determine whether a cub is a candidate for rehabilitation.
“The recent policy on how to deal with bear cubs as suitable candidates requires a vet assessment, but there is only one vet in the province who makes the assessment,” Macquisten said. “They work for the government. They’ve been reassuring the public that they speak to vets, but they only speak to one who is a government employee—that’s a big hole.”
While Lamb is slowly coming to terms with the likelihood the cubs may not be found, she said she still wants accountability and transparency from the agency.
“We pay the COS to ensure the safety of animals and people. They’re in the community because they are vulnerable to predators, and they come in because we are safer… It’s our responsibility to ensure they stay safe and receive fair treatment,” Lamb said.
Pique first reported on the orphaned cubs on May 2, after a video surfaced showing three small bears crying and circling a tree in Whistler’s Kadenwood neighbourhood. The footage, captured by a construction worker, sparked concern that the animals’ mother may have been killed, prompting efforts by locals and wildlife advocates to locate and rescue the cubs.
