Above is a picture of Victoria who's mother was killed. Victoria now resides at Critter Care a wildlife rehabilitation centre and will be released back into the wild when she is ready. 2015 was a record year for orphan black bear cubs in British Columbia. Now is time to stop the Spring Black Bear Hunt to give all bear cubs the opportunity to reach maturity. Having a hunting season for any animal with nursing young is unethical and cruel.  Black bears are the least reproductive mammals in North America.  Female black bears mature at an age of 3-5 years.  Some black bears may even take longer. Black Bears reproduce extremely slow because each generation must be taught as much as possible about the previous generation's knowledge.

Female black bears and their cubs are most vulnerable in the Spring after coming out of hibernation while the British Columbia Spring Black Bear Hunt is in full effect  (April 1st to June 15th). The cubs weigh approximately 2-3 kilograms at this time. The cubs during this period are to small to follow their mother while she goes out to forage. She will hide the cubs in a tree to keep them safe until she returns. While the cubs are hidden away does anyone know? In British Columbia it is legal to hunt female black bears if she does not have any cubs. How can a hunter accurately predict if a female does or does not have cubs? Mother black bears are extremely vulnerable to hunters while they are out foraging. If the mother is taken by hunters, leaving the cubs orphaned, at best, they will be cared for by volunteer and donation based rehabilitation facilities or, at worst left motherless in the wild to starve to death slowly or be killed savagely by other scavenging animals.  By eliminating the Spring bear hunt you will be providing the mothers and cubs a better opportunity for survival. Black bear cubs need their mothers for at least the first 16 months of there lives in order for the cubs to have a reasonable chance at survival  By doing so the cubs will be much larger in the Fall and travelling with their mothers increasing there survival rate during the fall hunting season which runs from September 10th to November 30th. Hunting a female bear with cubs is illegal in British Columbia.