Work

A Case Report on Rehabilitation of the Asiatic Black Bear ( Ursus thibetanus ussuricus ) in the Wild

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Wildlife rehabilitation restores distressed animals to a condition suitable for survival in the wild. For endangered Asiatic black bears ( Ursus thibetanus ), this might represent not only a humane intervention but also a strategy for conserving vulnerable populations. However, techniques for subadult and adult bears remain poorly tested, despite increasing anthropogenic and natural threats at the northern edge of their range. We describe the in situ rehabilitation of a starving 2‐year‐old male bear in the Russian Far East. Due to an anomalous autumn food shortage, the bear was forced to over‐winter near a settlement in an atypical den. It left this den periodically in February because it lacked sufficient fat reserves. We provided supplemental feeding over 3.5 weeks, which allowed the bear to recover and move away from the settlement. Our techniques can serve as a model to rehabilitate bears under extreme conditions, such as exhaustion, low temperatures, and food scarcity.

Source: Wildlife Letters

DOI: 10.1002/wll2.70027

Authors: Sergey A. Kolchin, Platon A. Maistrenko, Aleksey Yu. Oleynikov

Institutions: Russian Academy of Sciences, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500