It is with sadness that I will be closing this petition after this update. Russell, the bear, we all fought so hard for, has not been sighted this spring. He was underweight, had a poor hair coat, and was injured so the likelihood of him surviving our harsh winter is not positive. The silver lining is his suffering brought much attention to the issue of Alberta Wildlife and the policy that does not allow orphans to be rehabilitated (including lynx, cougar, wolves, coyotes, ungulates, grizzly bear to name a few). We can be proud that our collective voices have created change and BLACK BEAR orphans are NOW ALLOWED to be rehabilitated. This policy change comes with requirements listed by the Alberta Government that must be implemented by the Cochrane Ecological Institute prior to orphaned black bear cubs being allowed placement in their facility. This facility has been operating without the assistance of government funding or tax payer dollars since 1967; however, the current demands placed on them from the government will be a costly endeavor that requires immediate attention. There are 2 steps that you can do to assist with the rehabilitation of Alberta Wildlife. 1. Please sign the next petition. We are requesting that all of the banned species will have written protocols completed as soon as possible and will be given the opportunity to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild (this includes orphaned grizzly bears, lynx, cougar, wolves, coyotes, ungulates to name a few) https://www.change.org/p/shannon-phillips-allow-rehabilitation-of-all-orphans-as-a-result-of-trapping-and-trophy-hunting 2. If you are so inclined to make a donation to the Cochrane Ecological Institute via gofundme. You will receive a tax receipt (see prompts). http://ca.gofundme.com/bearcubrescue I am so grateful to all of you for your support! Without you - this small, but significant change would not have been possible. You have all created good karma. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Lisa