Rescue offers $10-K reward over shooting of mother black bear
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Black Bear Rescue Manitoba is offering a $10,000 reward in relation to the shooting of a mother black bear that resulted in three cubs being orphaned.
“We need to send a message out that this won’t be tolerated,” said president and owner Judy Stearns. “We want justice for these orphaned cubs and for that mother bear.”
Her organization, which is based in Stonewall, has been caring for the cubs since the shooting, believed to have taken place between 7:30 p.m. on March 30 and 1 p.m. on March 31. The sow’s carcass was found on the east side of Road 6E, just north of Balmoral, 14 kilometres north of Stonewall.
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One of the three orphaned bear cubs currently residing at the Black Bear Rescue Manitoba after their mother was shot and killed in late March. Conservation officers are looking for information about the shooting and a $10,000 reward mostly made up of public donations is being offered.
In Manitoba, it is illegal to kill a black bear with cubs, shoot one through the window of a vehicle or hunt bears out of season. Black bear hunting season begins April 28.
“This situation is being taken very seriously by people who are animal, wildlife and nature lovers,” Stearns said. “We’re considering this a crime against nature. It was so unethical they shot a nursing, female bear still at her winter den location.”
The rescue is in its ninth season of operation and Stearns said this level of outrage from the community is rare.
“People are furious. I haven’t seen them this upset in the animal community online in a long time,” she said.
The $10,000 is mostly made up of public donations, but the rescue will chip in.
She says anyone with information should report it to the rescue or to the Manitoba Conservation office in Selkirk.
“People were sharing online, just on random social media pages, that they were putting up $1,000 to catch the person who did this. Then someone else said: ‘I’ll put in $1,000.’ That’s when we decided we better get a reward organized.”
The incident is the sixth time the rescue has had to deal with orphaned cubs.
The three cubs are slowly settling in.
“They shouldn’t have had to have gone through that. They’d be much better off with their mother,” she said. “We see every day the trauma they went through.”
Stearns said they continue to collect donations for the reward and to help shelter the cubs. She asked that donors specify which effort they want to support.
morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca
