Three orphaned black bear cubs are “doing extremely well” as they settle into the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo, according to zoo director Tim Sinclair-Smith.
“In a captive situation you're trying to make sure it's a very positive environment, so there's a lot of work done with positive reinforcement training and a lot of behavioral husbandry work to make sure that's a positive experience,” Sinclair-Smith said.
The cubs were transported from Living Sky Rehabilitation Centre to the zoo on Wednesday.
They will be out of human sight and have no contact with people so they retain their natural fear of humans.
The cubs’ mother was shot by conservation officers on Saturday after she had been seen digging in garbage and near homes at Cote First Nation.
The environment ministry had set a deadline of Thursday for Living Sky Rehabilitation Centre to find the cubs a new home with the proper facilities for caring for wild animals.
Earlier this week the facility had taken to social media to avoid the cubs from being euthanized and to bring attention to the situation.
Sinclair-Smith says it’s not clear how long the bears will stay at the zoo before being let out into the wild.
“The province is in charge of these animals, we’re here to assist and support them,” Sinclair-Smith said.
