Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2021 | 13(6): 18411–18418
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6343.13.6.18411-18418
#6343 | Received 30 June 2020 | Final
received 09 December 2020 | Finally accepted 06 April 2021
First attempt at rehabilitation
of Asiatic Black Bear cubs to the wild in Thailand
Robert Steinmetz 1, Worrapan Phumanee 2, Rungnapa Phoonjampa 3 &
Suthon Weingdow 4
1,2,3 WWF Thailand, Pisit Building, 11 Pradiphat Soi 10, Pradiphat Road, Phayatai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
4 Department of National Parks,
Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, Phaholyothin Road, Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
1 roberts@wwf.or.th (corresponding
author), 2 wphumanee@wwf.or.th, 3 rungnapap@wwf.or.th, 4
sutoneweingdow@gmail.com
Editor: Anonymity
requested. Date of publication:
26 May 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Steinmetz, R., W. Phumanee, R. Phoonjampa & S. Weingdow (2021). First attempt
at rehabilitation of Asiatic Black Bear cubs to the wild in Thailand. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(6): 18411–18418. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6343.13.6.18411-18418
Copyright: © Steinmetz et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: WWF Sweden, WWF Germany.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Author details: Robert Steinmetz is an ecologist working on
endangered species conservation with WWF Thailand. Worrapan Phumanee is the senior researcher of Tiger Recovery
Project at WWF Thailand. His interests are on the population ecology of large
mammals, especially tigers. Rungnapa Phoonjampa
leads the Tiger Recovery Project, WWF Thailand. Her interests also focus on
gibbon population ecology. Suthon Weingdow
works for the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation in
Thailand. He was superintendent of Mae Wong National Park during this study,
and is currently superintendent of Khao Sam Roi Yod
National Park.
Author contribution: All authors contributed equally
to the design and implementation of the project and writing of the paper.
Acknowledgements: We thank the Department of
National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation for support. We thank the park staff Wirat
Panprue, Sompong Kaewkhong, and Somsai Racha, who cared for and walked the bears with
dedication. We thank John Beecham, David
Garshelis, and Gabriella Fredriksson for advice at
all stages of this project. We thank
three reviewers for insightful assistance on earlier versions of the
manuscript.
Abstract: Returning orphan bear cubs to the wild can benefit
bear welfare and conservation but is hindered in Asia by the scarcity of
documented experience. We experimented
with rehabilitation of two Asiatic Black Bear cubs in Thailand using the
assisted method of soft-release. We
raised the 5-month old cubs for 11 months with minimal human contact in a
remote enclosure in high quality habitat, letting cubs out periodically to walk
with caretakers in the forest. The
caretakers acted as surrogate mothers, allowing cubs to safely acquire foraging
skills and familiarity with the forest.
Supplementary feeding resulted in the cubs’ rapid weight gain (average
157g/day), faster than would occur in the wild.
Faster growth allowed the cubs to be released sooner, reducing the
likelihood of long-term habituation.
After three months of rehabilitation, the bear cubs started showing
signs of being wary of the caretakers (e.g., cautious when we approached their
enclosure) and their focus during walks switched from play to foraging. After seven months they began to spend nights
away from their enclosure, thus declining the supplemental food. This sequence and timing of increasing
separation and independence from people matched other assisted soft releases in
the region. The cubs went missing in
month 12, shortly before planned collaring and release. They were seen together
2.5 months later on a fruiting tree and ran away when approached. Assisted soft releases might be a promising
option for bear rehabilitation in Asia but more data are needed to evaluate
their effectiveness relative to other methods.
This method affords direct observations of bears in the wild that can
augment our knowledge of bear behavior and ecology.
Keywords: Reintroduction, soft release, Ursus thibetanus,
walking with bears.
INTRODUCTION
Orphan bear cubs are common in southeastern Asia due to widespread hunting of adult
females with cubs and trade in young bears as pets (Tumbelaka
& Fredriksson 2006; Vinitpornsawan et al.
2006). Orphan cubs often end up at
rescue centers, following confiscations and
donations. In Thailand for example, one center (Banglamung) has 87
Asiatic Black Bears Ursus thibetanus and 26 Sun Bears Helarctos
malayanus, and these numbers grow each year,
straining available resources (P. Chotiwatpongchai
pers. comm. 2016). This abundance of
captive bears, combined with a desire to improve animal welfare and conserve wild
bear populations, has generated widespread interest among governments and
non-government organizations in the idea of reintroducing captive bears to the
wild in southeastern Asia, but there is a scarcity of
knowledge to guide this challenging undertaking.
Releases of Asiatic Black Bears
to the wild have been conducted in Russia (Skripova
2013), South Korea (Han & Jung 2006), India (Ashraf et al. 2008), and Lao (Scotson & Hunt 2008).
Both soft and hard release approaches have been used. In soft releases, bears are released after a
period of acclimation and supplemental feeding, typically within an enclosure
at the release site. In hard releases,
bears are transported and released without acclimation to the release
area. A few projects have experimented
with both approaches and had greater success (higher post-release survival and
lower conflict with humans) with soft releases.
Two unique soft-release projects are those of Ashraf et al. (2008) with
Asiatic Black Bears in India, and Fredriksson (2001) with Sun Bears in
Indonesia. Both these projects employed
an assisted soft release, a variant of a soft release, in which the bear cubs
are held in an enclosure at the release site at night but regularly let out to
forage and explore the surrounding forest under the protection of caretakers
during the day (Beecham et al. 2016).
This option, also called ‘walking with bears’, is less commonly employed
than the other methods and its efficacy is relatively unstudied.
In February 2016 two orphan
Asiatic Black Bear cubs, a male and female (presumably siblings), were found by
park staff in Mae Wong National Park, Thailand.
They were about three months old.
The mother may have been killed by hunters or separated from the cubs
during the extensive fires that occurred at the time. Such small cubs were unlikely to survive in
the wild without protection by their mother.
We (WWF and Mae Wong National Park) decided to rehabilitate them to the
park using this assisted soft-release approach.
Our goals were to: (i) take advantage of an
opportunity to observe bear behavior in the wild,
(ii) conserve the local bear population, (iii) generate lessons and experience
in rehabilitation procedures that could inform future bear releases, and (iv)
save the two bears from a lifetime in captivity.
Study site
The present orphan bear
rehabilitation project was conducted in Mae Wong National Park, northwestern Thailand (99.07–99.37E, 15.65–16.10N; Fig.
1). The 894-km2 park is
covered with tropical evergreen and deciduous forest types and is inhabited by
wild Asiatic Black Bears and Sun Bears.
Elevations range 150–1,964 m; the area has a monsoonal climate with a
dry season (November–May) and a wet season (May–October). Average annual rainfall is 1,200mm and mean
temperature is 27°C.
MATERIALS
AND METHODS
The cubs weighed about 3kg and
appeared healthy (active, hungry, no injuries) when first acquired in February
2016. Before rehabilitation, the park
staff had kept the bears for nine weeks at their park headquarters in a
cage. They were fed rice, milk, and
fruits. During this time, the bears
received generous attention from the park staff, interacting daily with
numerous people who played with them.
We initiated the rehabilitation
program in April 2016. The cubs weighed
6.7 (female) and 4.2 kg (male) and were about five months old at this
time. In subsequent months we could only
visually estimate their weights, as they were too unruly to hold on a scale;
thus, all but our first weight measurement are estimates, not actual weights. The cubs were transferred to a chain-link
fence enclosure (3 × 1.5 m) at a remote site in the park, 20km away from the
nearest village. In July 2016, we
transferred the bears to an adjacent larger enclosure (16 × 8 m) as they had
outgrown the space available in the initial one. The site was in mixed deciduous forest, a
habitat that harbored many fruiting trees and other
food items that bears feed in the wild (Steinmetz et al. 2013). Perennial streams were present. Wild bears occurred in the release area but
were not abundant, as evident from the direct observation of bear signs. Leopards Panthera
pardus and Tigers Panthera
tigris also inhabited the surrounding forest,
though we never encountered them directly at the rehab site.
The enclosures had a water trough
for bathing. Logs and a raised wooden
platform were available for climbing and resting, and plastic buckets and balls
were used as enrichment to keep the bears occupied, promote cognitive
development, and prevent stereotyped behaviors from
developing (Beecham et al. 2016). Shade
was available from surrounding trees.
The two bears were kept together so they could socialize with each
other.
The enclosures were 150m from a
ranger station manned by three rangers.
Together with the first two authors, these five people were the main
caretakers of the bears. Because of the
enclosure’s proximity to the station, the bears were aware of human smells and
sounds, but this proximity also gave us convenient access for daily feeding and
other tasks.
Feeding
Rice was discontinued once
rehabilitation began in April 2016. On
days that we walked the bears, they were fed once, in the afternoon after their
walk. On days without a walk, the bears
were fed twice per day, in the morning and afternoon. Each meal was dry dog food and milk. Fruit or vegetables were also given 4–6 times
per week (watermelon, pumpkin, papaya, banana).
The milk was store-bought whole cow’s milk meant for humans. Milk and dog food were poured into bamboo
feeding troughs, whereas fruits and vegetables were scattered in the enclosure
to stimulate foraging. In the first
three months of rehab (bears 5–7 months old) we fed each bear about 3,000g of
milk and 300g of dog food each day. In
the next three months (bears 8–10 months old) we reduced milk to 2,000g/day and
increased dog food to 800g/day.
Thereafter (11–16 months old), we ceased milk and increased dog food to
1,000g/day/bear.
Rehabilitation
We employed an assisted
soft-release approach to prepare the bears for eventual release. In this approach the bears were fed and cared
for in an enclosure at their eventual release site, but periodically let out to
forage and explore the surrounding forest under the watch of dedicated
caretakers. After walks the bears were
returned to the enclosure for the night.
The caretakers acted as surrogate mothers, allowing the cubs to safely
acquire foraging skills and familiarity with their future home. Human contact was otherwise minimized, and
limited to a small core group of caretakers.
Caretakers did not receive formal training. Prior to the project, we familiarized
ourselves with bear rehabilitation techniques by reading the literature
(Beecham 2006; Beecham et al. 2016) and consulting with experienced
rehabilitators.
We set the following protocol to
minimize human contact. Five people
interacted with the bears throughout the project: three rangers and the first
two authors. The bear enclosure was
surrounded by black netting to minimize the bears’ view of the caretakers as
they approached (Beecham et al. 2016).
Talking to the bears or playing with them was not allowed. Food was funneled
down a tube from outside the cage, behind the black netting.
We began walking the bears after
two months in captivity, when they were about 7 months old (June 2016; Table
1). Two to four people walked the bears
each time. We used a whistle to
communicate with the bears, avoiding vocal communication. We carried bamboo poles to repel attempts by
the bears to interact with us, prodding them away to prevent physical
contact. We led the bears to food
sources as available, including fruiting trees, termite and bee nests, and
rotten logs (which hold insects). We
made qualitative observations of their behavior
inside their enclosure, and outside the enclosure during walks, noting their
level of caution and wariness towards us, and whether their predominant
activity was playing, foraging, or other (Table 1). During the walks, we also documented the food
items they ate (Image 1).
We planned to radio-collar and
release the bears in April 2017, which coincided with the start of the annual
high-fruit season in this habitat (Steinmetz et al. 2013); however, the bears
escaped on 14 March 2017, before we could collar them.
RESULTS
During the first three months of
rehabilitation the bears consumed up to 3,500g of food per day in captivity,
averaging approximately 29% of their body mass daily. During the six months that they were fed
milk, average daily consumption was estimated at 20% of body weight. And over the course of the entire
rehabilitation, average food consumption was estimated at 14% of body weight
per day. The bears also foraged during
walks but we could not quantify the mass of wild foods they ate. The bears grew rapidly, increasing from about
3kg to 50kg in 10 months (Fig. 2), an estimated average gain of 4.7kg/month, or
157g/day. We did not estimate their
weights in the final two months, but by their escape in March 2017, when they
were 16 months old, the bears appeared to weigh over 50kg.
At the time of escape, the bears
appeared healthy, with thick glossy pelage, and a blocky appearance,
full-bodied over all bony areas, with some fat over the rump and shoulders
(Image 2). These physical
characteristics correspond to a body condition score of 4 (out of 5) in the
index used to assess the physical suitability of bears for release (Lintzenich et al. 2006); this score exceeded the level
deemed suitable for release (Beecham et al. 2016).
We walked the bears 14 times in
the 11 months (April 2016 to March 2017) before escape (Table 1). During walks the bears instinctively fed on
foods such as termites, beetle larva, and fruits of Ficus
benjamina, Cassia fistula, and Dillenia indica. They also fed on foods not previously
documented in the species’ diet in southeastern Asia:
bamboo shoots, stems and leaves of wild ginger Zingiber
sp., aroids (Araceae), the herb Costus
sp., and tree seedlings of Spondias sp.
The bears became increasingly
wary and independent over time (Table 1).
In the first 3–4 four months, the bears eagerly approached us when we
came near their enclosure and initiated repeated contacts with us (> 2 per
walk) during walks, particularly attempts to smell or play with our legs. But in the later months, they appeared
cautious when we approached the enclosure, and they became increasingly
independent of us during walks, exploring under their own direction and
initiating fewer contacts (0 or 1 per walk).
Their focus of attention during walks also shifted during this
time. In the initial four months, the
bears spent most of their non-resting time playing with each other, both inside
and outside the enclosure. By the 5th
month of the rehab process (when the cubs aged nine months), however, their
main interest during walks had switched to foraging, with bouts of play now
intermittent (Table 1).
The bears repeatedly escaped from
their enclosure after three months (July; Table 1), by clawing through the
chain-link fence. After escapes, food
was provided as usual inside the enclosure, and the bears entered for
meals. After each escape, they slept in
nearby trees (within 30m of the enclosure) until we repaired the enclosure and
got them back inside. We continued to
walk them after escapes, calling them down from their tree with a whistle to
follow us. After the first two escapes
(July, August), they spent most of their time (both day and night) in the
nearby trees, descending mainly for meals and walks. In subsequent months, they foraged and
explored on their own after escapes, but still returned to their regular
sleeping trees in the evening. In month
8 (November) they began to occasionally sleep away from the enclosure
altogether after escapes (not returning to their sleeping trees next to the
enclosure), and declined to enter the enclosure for food for the first
time. On one occasion, in the 8th
month of acclimation, the bears raided the park ranger’s station kitchen on two
consecutive nights. Bear spray had
little effect: the bears would retreat but return a short time later (American
Black Bears have shown similar responses to bear spray (Herrero & Higgins
1998); however, no further raids occurred after this.
The bears went missing on 14
March 2017 before the radio-collars were ready.
They were 16 months old. They
broke through the enclosure and did not return.
They were seen together 10 weeks later by a park ranger patrol, 1.5 km
from the enclosure, feeding in the canopy of a fruiting tree. They descended the tree and ran away, a
positive indication that they were not habituated and had acquired fear of
people. They appeared healthy and were
apparently sustaining themselves foraging in the wild. Despite their freedom and proximity to the
ranger station, the bears never raided the kitchen again.
DISCUSSION
Cub growth
Despite
uncertainty in the visually-estimated weights of the bears, it was clear that
the bears grew rapidly due to our feeding regimen. This was despite being fed cow’s milk, which
has substantially lower fat and protein, and higher carbohydrate content, than
bear’s milk (Oftedal & Gittleman
1989). Between the ages of 3 and 13
months, the bears gained an estimated 157g/day on average (Fig. 2), two times
faster than the growth rate of wild American Black Bear U. americanus cubs (77g/day; Oftedal
& Gittleman 1989). As a result, our cubs were roughly twice as
heavy as wild bears would generally be at an equivalent age (e.g., Noyce & Garshelis 1998; Clark et al. 2002). Similar fast growth rates were observed for
Brown Bears U. arctos and American Black Bears
that were fed supplemental food (Rausch 1961; Huber et al. 1993; Komnenou et al. 2016).
Although
orphan bear cubs can be released as early as 5 months old and survive, larger
bears tend to have higher post-release survival rates and fewer conflicts with
people (Beecham et al. 2015). An Asiatic
Black Bear cub in Lao, which was rehabilitated using an assisted soft-release
approach, was killed by a predator (possibly another bear) just weeks after
release; its small size (< 30kg) might have rendered it particularly
vulnerable to attack (Scotson & Hunt 2008). Our goal was thus to release heavy bears that
could defend themselves, but we wanted to achieve this growth rapidly so bears
could be released sooner and spend less time with humans, thereby minimizing
the possibility of long-term habituation.
Our effort appeared to have successfully balanced these goals.
Cub behavior and adaptation
Minimizing
human contact is a critical determinant of successful bear releases. Bears that interact with too many people, or
have too much human contact at the wrong time (after weaning), are more likely
to become habituated to people, leading to conflict after release as they seek
human food (Beecham 2006). Our bears
began showing signs of wariness and independence after three months, and after
seven months (at the age of 12 months), began to spend nights entirely outside
the enclosure, foregoing their supplemental food. The timing of these behavioral
changes corresponded to other assisted soft releases in Asia. In Lao, Asiatic Black Bear cubs showed
wariness towards caretakers within four months of the rehabilitation process (Scotson & Hunt 2008).
In India, cubs became reluctant to enter their enclosure after seven
months of rehab (age 13–14 months) (Ashraf et al. 2008). And in Indonesia, Sun Bears refused to enter
their enclosure after six months, choosing to live on their own in the forest
but returning for food occasionally (Fredriksson 2001). In retrospect, we believe our bears were
physically and behaviorally ready for release in
month 8 of rehab (November 2016; they were about 45kg) but we kept them longer
because natural food availability at that time of year was low (Steinmetz et
al. 2013).
Caretakers
in other assisted soft release projects typically walked their bears every day
(Fredriksson 2001; Ashraf et al. 2008; Scotson &
Hunt 2008). Our walking schedule was
much less intensive, yet bears exhibited similar behavioral
trends towards independence, separation, and wariness. Although our ‘official’ walks were more
sporadic compared to other projects, the bears’ frequent escapes allowed them
to explore the forest on their own, which may have served a similar function as
walks (but without protection afforded by the caretakers). Even including escapes, the bears spent more
than two-thirds of their days completely inside the enclosure, far more than in
other projects; thus, our project is a combination of soft release by
acclimation at the release site and soft release by walking with the
bears. Thus, it appeared that assisted
soft releases can be successful with less intensive walking schedules than have
been used previously. As long as cubs’ habituation
to humans declines over time (by minimizing contact), minor differences in
rehabilitation methods appear to have little effect on the development of
traits that cubs need to adapt to life in the wild after release (IFAW 2007;
Beecham et al. 2015). Assisted
soft-release projects should strive to have no more than 2–3 people interacting
with the bears throughout the process (references above). Our project exceeded this, with five people
interacting with the bears over time, due to changes in ranger staff at the
rehab site. The fact that we had two
bear cubs which could socialize with each other might have mitigated potential
habituation problems arising from interacting with too many people. We recommend that number of caretakers be
minimized as much as possible.
Socialization
with other bears is a key factor underlying successful bear rehabilitation and
release projects (Beecham 2006). A major
asset in our project was having two bears of the same age to raise together. This allowed the bears constant opportunities
for social interactions with each other, reducing attachment to caretakers at
all stages of development (Beecham et al. 2016). A single cub might require more time in
captivity to allow separation from caretaker to develop (Beecham 2006),
although a single Asiatic Black Bear cub rehabilitated in Lao (Scotson & Hunt 2008) exhibited signs of separation at a
pace similar to our two cubs.
During walks
we observed the bears feeding on food items that were not documented in the
literature on food habits of Asiatic Black Bear in the region (Steinmetz et al.
2013). The new foods observed were all
herbaceous items, which are difficult to document without direct observation of
feeding, because they do not leave readily identifiable remains in scats (such
as seeds or exoskeletons) and feeding signs associated with them are indistinct
and not easily attributable to the bear species. Interestingly, bears fed on these plant
materials in August when fruits (their main food) were naturally scarce (Steinmetz
et al. 2013); these dietary items probably help to sustain the bears when their
main food items are scarce. Assisted
soft releases provide the unique opportunity to observe bears in their natural
habitat at close range, allowing researchers to obtain behavioral
and ecological information that is otherwise unavailable to researchers
studying wild bears.
Conclusion
Two major
limitations of our project were the small sample size (2 bears) and inability
to assess long-term survival (because the bears escaped before we could collar
or mark them). Their sighting 2.5 months
after release and the fact that the bears did not come into conflict with
resident humans, indicate that the bears were successfully finding food,
avoiding people, and avoiding predators (other black bears, tigers,
leopards). These can be considered as
key longer-term indicators of post-release success. We rated our project against six key factors
associated with successful bear releases (Beecham 2006). All factors were achieved to some
degree. Scoring highest were: (i) socialization opportunities, (ii) release timing, and
(iii) habitat quality at the release site (Table 2). But we caution that our project is not a
definitive evaluation of the assisted soft release approach, especially given
the small sample size and the lack of post-release monitoring data. More data are needed to draw conclusions
about the value of this approach when compared to other rehab methods. Our intention is to document the experience,
thereby contributing to the currently limited information available on bear
rehabilitation in Asia.
Resources
required for soft releases of bears, whether assisted or not, are similar in
most respects: construction of an enclosure, purchase of sufficient food,
dedicated staff, and telemetry equipment.
An assisted soft release imposes an additional time cost on caretakers
to walk the bears, although as we showed, the walking schedule need not be
intensive. Assisted releases add the
unique advantage of being able to closely observe bear behavior
in the wild.
Table 1. Behavior of two
Asiatic Black Bear cubs during rehabilitation from April 2016 to March 2017, as
observed inside and outside their enclosure. Behavior
outside was observed during walks and whenever they escaped from the enclosure.
Month |
Estimated bear age (months) |
Number of walks |
Behavior outside enclosure |
Behavior inside enclosure |
Apr 2016 |
5 |
0 |
n/a |
Cubs approached caretakers
eagerly. |
May |
6 |
0 |
n/a |
Cubs approached caretakers
eagerly. |
Jun |
7 |
1 |
Predominant
behavior is playing with each other (chasing, mock
fighting, climbing trees). Some amount of foraging. Follow us
through forest. Cubs made
frequent attempts to interact with us. |
Cubs approached caretakers
eagerly. |
Jul |
8 |
10 |
Escape from
first enclosure. Began
sleeping on trees outside the enclosure; descend for feeding and walks. During
walks, bear cubs spent more time playing with each other. Limited foraging. More
independent than previous month- stayed further away from us and began
exploring the forests on their own (we follow them). Made fewer
attempts to interact with us. |
Cubs still approach caretakers
eagerly. Soon moved into larger enclosure. |
Aug |
9 |
2 |
Escape from
second enclosure Sleep in
nearby trees as before; descend for feedings and walks On walks,
bears show little interest in us Predominant
behavior on walks has switched, from mostly play to
mostly foraging. Frequently taste various plants. |
Approach caretaker, but more
cautiously than before. |
Sep |
10 |
0 |
Enclosure
repaired; bears back inside. |
The cubs still approached
caretaker, but cautiously. |
Oct |
11 |
1 |
Escaped
again. Using the nearby trees for sleeping. Would descend for daily feedings,
but wait for caretakers to leave first. |
n/a |
Nov |
12 |
0 |
Bears
forage on their own all day, returning to sleep in trees near enclosure at
night. We rarely
saw the bears now; but they still come for meals inside enclosure (food
disappears). Bears begin
to spend nights away from enclosure, including a 4-day period of complete
absence (during which they did not come for meals). Bears raid
ranger station kitchen for two consecutive 2 nights. |
n/a |
Dec |
13 |
0 |
Enclosure
repaired and bears enticed back in with food. |
Cubs no longer approach the
caretakers. Would move in the opposite direction when caretakers arrive. |
Jan 2017 |
14 |
0 |
n/a |
Cubs no longer approach the
caretakers. Would move in the opposite direction when caretakers arrive. |
Feb |
15 |
0 |
n/a |
Cubs no longer approach the
caretakers. Would move in the opposite direction when caretakers arrive. |
Mar |
16 |
0 |
Bears
escape for final time, never to return again. |
n/a |
Table 2. Key factors associated
with successful bear releases, from Beecham (2006), and the degree to which
they were achieved (subjectively ranked as high, medium, or low) in the
rehabilitation and release of orphaned Asiatic Black Bears in Mae Wong National
Park, Thailand, 2016–2017.
Key Factor |
Level of achievement |
1. Minimize frequency of
contact and number of caretakers, particularly after weaning |
Medium-High. Five people had
primary contact with the bears during their captivity, whereas 1–2 people might
have been ideal. After weaning, however, only two people regularly interacted
with the bears (for feeding). Also, we implemented remote feeding techniques
to minimize time at the enclosure during feeding. |
2. Provide opportunity for cubs
to socialize with other bears while in captivity |
High. We were fortunate
to have a pair of cubs—this is a crucial factor in preventing habituation. |
3. Release bears close to age
when family break-up occurs in wild |
Medium-High. Our bears were
released at about 16 months old, which is slightly earlier than they would
naturally leave their mother in the wild. Bear releases have been successful
with bears much younger, however, and our bears were large for their age,
which aids survival prospects. |
4. Release bears in good
quality habitat |
High. The release
occurred in deciduous forest with bamboo. This habitat provides moderately
abundant food, including fruit trees, bamboo, gingers, and insects. |
5. Time release to coincide
with availability of natural foods |
High. The peak fruiting
season began in April, soon after the bears were released. |
6. Release bears when chance of
encountering people is low |
High. The release site
is remote from villages. Occasional hikers pass through, but not until
November, giving the bears eight months of immersion in the wild before
possibly encountering people. |
For
figures & images - - click here
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