Orphaned black bear cubs ‘disturbed and traumatized’ after mother shot in rural Manitoba, rescue owner says
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The owner of a Manitoba bear rescue organization says three 10-week-old black bear cubs have been calling for their mother for days after their mother was shot and killed near their den north of Balmoral earlier this week.
“They’re very distressed and traumatized,” Judy Stearns, president and owner of Black Bear Rescue Manitoba, said of the young cubs — two females and a male — who are now in their care.
“They are very distressed and their world has been turned upside down and they are missing their mother,” he said, adding that the male cub is “yelling and screaming for his mother” and struggling to eat.
Manitoba conservation officers said in a social media post That the mother bear was illegally shot between 7:30 pm on March 30 and 1 am on March 31.
Conservation officers are investigating the incident.
Anyone with information about who shot the bear is encouraged to call Selkirk Conservation officers at 204-785-5080 or the Turn-In-Poachers tip line at 1-800-782-0076.
It is illegal to kill female black bears with cubs in the province, according to 2025 provincial hunting guide.
Stearns said the cubs’ mother might still be alive if people hadn’t posted the location of the den near Balmoral, about 40 kilometers north of Winnipeg, on social media about two weeks ago.
“I was guessing something like this was going to happen as soon as the exact location of the bear and its den was revealed online,” she said of the public posts she saw circulating on Facebook around March 20.
He said he had received numerous phone calls and messages from people concerned that other people were driving by to take photos of mother bears nursing their cubs, potentially disturbing them in their dens.
Stearns said she was “very angry and disappointed” but ultimately “not surprised.”
“However as soon as I heard this – my big concern – I’ve been advocating for animals for years – was that someone was going to harm him. The wrong person was going to find out his location and go there,” she said.
She felt a “sinking feeling” when police called her earlier this week to tell her about the shooting.
Stearns said the mother bear was nursing her babies “like a sitting duck” in a “very open” area, while the babies were not yet mobile enough to leave the den.
“She was very weak and posed no threat to anyone. She was just taking care of her cubs and minding her own business,” he said.
“You would have to be quite ruthless to shoot a nursing mother with 10-week-old cubs,” he said, adding that the cubs could be attacked by hunters or die of starvation in the wild without their mother.
Stearns said there is a lot of misinformation about black bears and humans often fear them more than they should.
province says Black bears are intelligent and shy, preferring to avoid humans. People should never approach or feed black bears, the province said, adding that be sure to remove food sources from residential areas and camping sites to avoid attracting the food-motivated animals.
Stearns said the cubs will go through Black Bear Rescue Manitoba’s program, where they will be fostered and returned to the wild in the fall before denning season.
CBC News has contacted the office of Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushey for comment.
