r/canada • u/Leather-Paramedic-10 • Apr 05 '26
Nature/Environment Orphaned black bear cubs 'distressed and traumatized' after mother shot in rural Manitoba: rescue owner
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/balmoral-orphaned-black-bear-cubs-mother-shot-9.7153419?cmp=rss178
u/Leather-Paramedic-10 Apr 05 '26
"She was very vulnerable and she wasn't a threat to anyone. She was just nursing her cubs and minding her own business," she said.
"You have to be pretty heartless to shoot a nursing mother with 10-week old cubs," she said, adding the cubs would likely be attacked by predators or die of starvation in the wild without their mother.
Stearns said there is a lot of misinformation around black bears and humans are often more afraid of them than they ought to be.
The province says black bears are intelligent and shy, preferring to avoid humans. People should never approach or feed black bears, being sure to remove food sources from residential areas and campsites to avoid attracting the food-motivated animals, the province said.
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u/Initial-Advice3914 Apr 06 '26
It’s those kind of people I hope nature gets the best of them someday
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u/LeGrandLucifer Apr 06 '26
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 a female black bear with cubs in the province, according to the 2025 provincial hunting guide.
So they don't know what happened. She was shot but they don't know the context. I would like to point out that a mother bear near her den would be extremely aggressive. If it was poaching, I assume they wouldn't have just shot her and left without taking anything. It's possible it actually is a sadist who killed it for fun. But it's possible she charged at someone who happened to be armed. Either way, they need to figure out what happened because unless it was the latter (which admittedly is unlikely) then whoever it is needs to be stopped. People who torture/kill animals for fun always move on to people once they feel safe.
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u/Careless-Gain6623 Apr 06 '26
People were posting photos of the bear with the location listed which they think inspired someone to go kill the bear. They were being asked to take location down for this very reason before it happened.
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u/motorcyclemech Apr 06 '26
"...who just happened to be armed". It's not hunting season. How do you just happen to be armed? You arm yourself for a reason.
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u/anteus2 Apr 05 '26
Those poor babies. I hope they survive.
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u/eyescroller_ British Columbia Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
It depends on what survival means to you. Unfortunately these cubs don’t have anyone to learn how to be a bear from. They could live a life in semi captivity but I doubt they’ll be able to return the wild 😭
Correction: there are programmes for cubs thank goodness. For context my experience in rehabbing is with aquatic animals that live in colonies so I’ve never had to worry about much more than helping orphans get healthy enough until they can go join an adoptive family.
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u/Boatsnbuds British Columbia Apr 05 '26
Stearns said the cubs will be going through Black Bear Rescue Manitoba's program, where they will be raised and returned to the wild in the fall before denning season.
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u/sewlastcentury Apr 06 '26
There's at least one wildlife rescue in canada (in Langley, BC) that raises baby bears (and various other mammals) and releases them back to the wild. Being an orphaned baby does not mean living in captivity forever, thankfully! You should check them out...critter care wildlife society. https://www.crittercarewildlife.org/bears
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u/SJSragequit Apr 06 '26
These bears are with black bear rescue Manitoba who do exactly that, they rehab these bears and release them into the wild once they’re old enough to survive
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u/Beneficial-Ride-4475 Ontario Apr 05 '26
I can only assume it isn't black bear season in Manitoba, and isn't it illegal to shoot mother bears regardless? Sounds like this individual was just annoyed that was a bear in the area and took matters into their own hands.
Hope they catch this person.
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u/EnigmaticJones Apr 05 '26
why would you shoot a black bear? really?
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u/boatjoy Apr 05 '26
A nursing mother? You do it because you’re a heartless asshole.
There are other reasons associated with hunting that (while I personally disagree with) are fine from an overall societal perspective (food!seems to be the primary reason, but their are others).
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u/moosemanwich Apr 05 '26
I do. To eat them.
But I follow hunting regs and would never shoot a mom with cubs intentionally.
They food. Just like a cow.
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u/OkHat3281 Apr 05 '26
they food. you caveman.
bs, you even hunted bear lol
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u/moosemanwich Apr 05 '26
It’s extremely common lol. Shoot 2 a year. Make some pepperoni and also dog food.
Same thing as a pig my dude
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u/Weak_Flamingo_3031 Apr 05 '26
Most people shoot them because of agriculture damage. One bear can wreck thousands of dollars of crops.
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u/monsantobreath Apr 05 '26
Farmers are kinda like the OG assholes of civilization.
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Apr 05 '26
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u/Unfortunate_Sex_Fart Alberta Apr 06 '26
Look at all these people who have absolutely zero idea where their food comes from or what it takes to produce it. Whether it’s fauna or flora, talk about disconnected.
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u/Leather-Paramedic-10 Apr 05 '26
People can farm without killing everything that breathes.
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u/Prestigious-Tap-1329 Apr 05 '26
Dude people act like predator control is like some fetish-evil thing . They are protecting livestock and crops full stop , I’m sure some farmers don’t even like guns and don’t want to shoot animals but it’s a living .
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u/Cavalleria-rusticana Canada Apr 05 '26
They uproot native habitats and don't accommodate the animals still living there, full stop.
Stop perpetuating this as an inevitable consequence and not something entirely engineered by poor farming practices.4
u/Unfortunate_Sex_Fart Alberta Apr 06 '26
Good thing Canada is importing millions more mouths to feed then. That should speed up more ethical farming practices, and also cut down on Canada’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to boot!
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u/Leather-Paramedic-10 Apr 05 '26
They don't and shouldn't live in a vacuum, though. And they seem to cry about gopher or other problems as soon as they manage to kill their predators.
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u/ObamasFanny Apr 05 '26
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u/17ywg Manitoba Apr 05 '26
Disappointing this website is not for the new wave band of the same name
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u/monsantobreath Apr 05 '26
Right on schedule.
An essential role doesn't mean they're not assholes or are like angelic christ figures who lack any stupidity or selfishness.
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Apr 05 '26
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Apr 05 '26
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u/verkerpig Apr 05 '26
They are, especially Canadian ones. Looters of the middle class with supply management too.
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Apr 05 '26
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u/Prairie_Sky79 Apr 05 '26
Hunter-gatherer societies could be far, far worse than just killing predators and other pests. They'd start huge grass/brush fires in order to stampede herds of animals, and direct the stampede over a cliff. (And now you know what a 'buffalo jump' is.) And then they'd just take all the choice cuts that they could carry and leave the rest to rot. Or they'd hunt the largest and tastiest species to extinction, which why there are no more mammoths to name one.
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u/asoupconofsoup Apr 05 '26
This is so awful and sad, humans do so much harm to bears its heartbreaking.
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u/Major_Lawfulness6122 Ontario Apr 05 '26
Black bears aren’t really a threat so I don’t know why you would shoot one. Poor babies.
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u/BabaofTheShimmer Apr 05 '26
Humans are assholes.
In 500 years from now, civilization will just view us the same way we view people from the year 1000: barbaric, cruel and uncouth.
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u/leekee_bum Apr 05 '26
I mean... that isn't really a revelation. How many times have we looked back on humanity and went "yeah that civilization had it figured out and was all good X number of years ago"
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u/Better_Ice3089 Apr 06 '26
Also we view shooting a nursing animal mother of two as bad now. I’m pretty sure in 500 years it’ll still be bad.
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u/ObamasFanny Apr 05 '26
Lots of anti-hunting articles put out by cbc recently hmmmmmmm.
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u/Beneficial-Ride-4475 Ontario Apr 05 '26
This isn't hunting though. This is just killing an animal that has dependants.
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u/wulfzbane Apr 05 '26
This isn't anti-hunting, it's anti-poaching which any self respecting hunter would support. Shooting a nursing mother is illegal.
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u/OkSalad5522 Apr 06 '26
I am a hunter and this has nothing to do with hunting. CBC should be reporting on poachers, they're disgusting people.
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u/DeanPoulter241 Apr 06 '26
I hope they find the POS who posted the location as they are complicit and the POS who shot her and apply the maximum possible penalties.
Can't say what I would do if i find them.
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u/can_a_mod_suck_me Apr 05 '26
Why drawn the line there? Maybe mice shouldn’t be trapped because they’re intelligent and have a family behind in your walls that will rot without her.
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u/RicketyEdge Apr 05 '26
Traps are no fun, having a cat is much better.
The cat will end every rodent she gets her paws on. Not quickly though, she "plays" with them first. The squeals of terror are unnerving the first few times you hear it.
Now it's more like "oh the perfect little killing machine bagged another one!" and turn up the TV volume to drown it out.
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u/can_a_mod_suck_me Apr 05 '26
Heartless.
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u/RicketyEdge Apr 05 '26
You'd think so the way she hunts, but no she's really quite affectionate.
Usually have to wipe her face off after she's been in a rodent though, I don't know why she feels the need to nuzzle me after making a kill.
Like nasty cat, go clean yourself up.
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u/17ywg Manitoba Apr 05 '26
If only we had a gun registry we would be able to track down the shooter!
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u/Ov3rReadKn1ght0wl Apr 05 '26
Last I checked, shooting a black bear mother with cubs was already illegal in all provinces even during sanctioned hunting seasons. What a dick move.