Bear Rehab &
Release
Bear release is the
ultimate aim of the rescue program of our conservation project.
Rescued bears need
rehabilitation to learn what to eat in the wild before they can be
liberated, also to grow big enough to avoid attacks by puma.
Bears getting ready for release are kept in isolated areas so
they get accustomed to not having humans around.
Armando
Castellanos and
the Andean Bear Project have successfully
liberated at least 10 Andean bears - the only project in the world to
do so.
Three other liberated bears were not able to be monitored due
to
lack of funds, so while we suspect that their liberations were a
success we are not able to prove it. At least three of the
female
Andean bears we
have released are known to have bred successfully.
Armando
was one of the
first
to reintroduce captive Andean
bears to the wild, in 1995, a time when nobody even knew what the bears
ate, never mind how to rehabilitate them. Armando has learned
from experience, developed a technique for successfully reintroducing
Andean bears and is now considered the world's leading expert in this
field. He wrote the only Guide to the Rehabilitation,
Liberation
and Tracking of Andean Bears and is a member
of the IUCN Bear Reintroduction Team. Our recent research
results now
explain why it has proved harder to keep track of liberated male bears
than females - it turns out that the males have home ranges at least
four times larger than the females, and roam over thousands of hectares.
Releasing
bears in
Ecuador is an important part of the conservation plan and the bear
reintroduction program is guided by the results of our research into
the bears' needs. Andean
bear populations live in fragmented habitats as the cloud forest is cut
down to make way for agriculture and human settlements. With
their cloud forest corridors blocked by roads, fenced pastures and
villages, bear populations become cut off from one another, which
results in inbreeding. The inbred bears then have low genetic
diversity, which makes them vulnerable to disease. By
liberating rescued bears from other parts of Ecuador, we introduce
variety into the gene pool and increase genetic diversity,
which strengthens the ability of the Andean bear as a species to resist
extinction.
The Andean bear
rehabilitation
process takes anywhere from 6 to 18 months, depending on the age and
size of the rescued cub. Bears must be large enough to not be
attacked by puma or other predators before they can be released.
The bears are offered the foods that they would find in the
wild, firstly chopped up and ready to eat so that they get used to the
taste and smell. Later they learn how to split open the
bamboo, rip the middle out of palms and dig for worms and other
insects. At the moment we have one female bear, Coya, in
rehabilitation.
Once a bear is ready for
release we work directly with willing reserves and the
Ecuadorian government in order to find a suitable area and give the
bear the best chance of survival in the wild. We
also try to ensure that its release has no detrimental impacts
on existing bear populations and local communities. Our bear
reintroduction program is
based on IUCN guidelines (1995). In the
last few years, we have been releasing bears at Hacienda
Yanahurco and are very grateful to the owners for allowing us
to use this, one of the last great open spaces and wildlife refuges in
Ecuador.
Bear rehabilitation and
liberation is a costly process. Bear rehab costs around $1000
a month. Bear release ideally requires a helicopter, in order
to liberate the bear in a suitably remote area with no scent trail back
to areas populated by humans. A satellite collar to track the
movements of the released bear costs around $6000 including the airtime
needed to monitor the signals. A satellite collar is needed
to monitor the male bears, which cover huge distances. A
radio collar, costing around $700, can be used to monitor released
female bears who tend to stay in a smaller area of perhaps 1500
hectares, though there are then manpower costs for tracking the bear.
We welcome donations
to help cover the costs of
rehab and liberation for Andean bears, and are very grateful to all our
donors.
Please note that orphaned
bear cubs or bears kept in illegal captivity should NEVER be released
into the wild without rehabilitation by experienced professionals.
Small bear cubs will not know what to eat and will be
attacked by predators. Bears accustomed to human contact will
approach people and so will probably be shot as a result.
Finding a
suitable release site is not easy - a huge area is needed for a
successful bear release, especially for male bears.
If you
know of a bear which needs to be liberated in Ecuador, get in touch -
we are the organization responsible. For bear liberation in
other countries, ask us for contact details or contact the relevant
Ministry of the Environment.
Andean
Bear Conservation Project: Bear Rehab & Release
The Andean Bear Conservation Project´s bear reintroduction
program rehabilitates and releases orphaned Andean bears
cubs back into the wild. Liberation of rescued bears
reinforces the genetic diversity of local
populations of this endangered species.
