SPENCERTOWN — A search for bear cubs is underway after a female black bear was killed on the Taconic Parkway on Friday evening.
The bear was hit by a car and killed near mile marker 100.1, said Sue Geel, director and president of the Lucky Rehabilitation Center.
Geel learned about the bear cubs on social media after a local hunter posted he had spotted them in the area.
“That alerted me that the mom had been killed, and thus began our search,” she said.
The cubs were still nursing when they were separated from their mother, and are only roughly 10-12 pounds, Geel said.
“They’re very young,” she said. “They are this year’s cubs, so they were born in the den.”
Members of the rehabilitation center have been searching for the bear cubs in Chatham and Austerlitz since Saturday, Geel said.
“We’ve been out 12 hours a day since Saturday morning searching,” she said.
At around noon Saturday, a local girl spotted a cub while riding her horse, near where the mother’s suspected den was.
The rehabilitation center was there within 30 minutes but was unable to find the cub, and has not found any signs of cubs since then, Geel said.
Lucky Rehabilitation Center has set up traps and game cameras to try and catch the cubs, Geel said.
They have also been conducting foot searches, and have had two thermal camera companies, Upstate Thermal Drone Services and Heat Seeker Drone Services, fly over the search area in search of the cubs.
Reports on the number of cubs have varied, with some individuals have reported spotting only one cub, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation told the rescue to be on the lookout for up to three cubs, Geel said.
“We’re not even sure how many cubs there are,” she said. “The number of cubs has been varying.”
It is also unclear whether or not the cubs have stayed together, Geel said.
“It’s all a matter of what they’ve encountered since being separated (from their mother),” Geel said. “Have they been chased by predators? Are they searching for food? It’s all up in the air at this point.”
If found, the cubs will be taken to Friends of the Feathered and Furry, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Hunter, Geel said.
“They would continue rehab with them through the winter, and then DEC would come and sedate them and relocate them within the state,” she said.
This is the first time Lucky Rehabilitation Center has dealt with searching for bear cubs, Geel said.
“We’re definitely learning and taking information from every source available,” she said. “Learning the natural history and behaviors (of bear cubs) is helping us understand where and how we should set up traps.”
Geel got fur from the deceased mother bear to add her scent to the traps, and give it to a search dog, which could use it to track the cubs.
“Our goal is, basically, just to find them,” she said. “If they’re located and they’re lethargic and dehydrated, we might be able to just grab them. If they’re healthy, our objective is to get them up into a tree and set a trap under them to catch them. It depends on what they’re finding to eat and drink.”
The health of the cubs depends on their resourcefulness, Geel said.
“I’m not sure how many skills they have for survival, but one way or another we’re going to find out,” she said.
Geel is optimistic the cubs will be found alive, she said.
“I’m hopeful, but every day that goes by closes that window,” she said.
The large bear population in the area increases the likelihood the cubs were adopted by another female, Geel said.
“The density of the bear population in the area is amazing, and there have been instances of another sow adopting a cub, that would be an amazing thing,” she said. “But there is the other side of a boar (male bear) finding the cubs, and they will kill cubs if they come across them.”
Lucky Rehabilitation Center is not going to give up on finding the cubs, Geel said.
“Everything is up in the air, but we’re not going to give up until we have answers one way or the other, or we’re so exhausted we can’t keep going,” she said.
If one of the bear cubs is spotted, the best thing to do is call Lucky Rehabilitation Center to report it, Geel said.
“Call anytime of the day or night,” she said. “We’re also monitoring social media quite a bit for chatter about it.”