LETTER: Rehabilitated grizzly cubs can boost Alberta grizzly bear recovery
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Dear Honourable Minister Jason Nixon,
We are a group of 73 scientists, wildlife conservationists and animals advocates that have come together to sign on to this Open Letter expressing our concerns about the three orphaned grizzly bear cubs in the Calgary Zoo and the lack of attention being paid to Alberta’s grizzly bear population. We would like to thank the Alberta Fish and Wildlife for rescuing the three cubs and for the care that Calgary Zoo has provided them. Our group respectfully requests that Alberta Fish and Wildlife consider rehabilitating and releasing these cubs into the Alberta wilderness to boost the province’s grizzly bear population rather than condemning these bears to long-term captive care.
Many Albertans would fully support this approach given that grizzly bears are a threatened species in Alberta and that rehabilitation and release into the wild is the most humane solution. Science shows that wild animals suffer immeasurably in captivity. The Calgary Zoo was one of the first zoos to treat polar bears with Prozac to mitigate the psychological trauma of captivity and the development of disorders.
These three cubs’ age and health make them ideal candidates for the only grizzly bear cub rehabilitation program in North America, namely the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter in Smithers, B.C. Since its inception in 2007, this shelter has raised and released twenty-five grizzly cubs without serious incident. Once successfully reared and capable of surviving in the wild on their own, the cubs would be released back into an appropriate area with as little human development as possible.
