The bear cub Barniedo was released by the Office’s technicians, in an area close to the area where he was found injured, after completing his acclimatization phase in the Monte de Monte farm. Valsemana (León). The release took place in an oak forest producing a large production of acorns, which will provide food in the months to come. He carries two transmitters, one placed on his back, which will emit a GPS signal, and the other is an earring that will emit radio frequencies.
These devices will help to know their movements, habits and location, which will facilitate a better knowledge of the species. His weight is almost 30 kilos, although when he arrived at the CRAS in Valladolid on August 2, he only weighed 6 kilos. He is very healthy, with great energy and his behavior is very avoidant towards humans, which suggests a rapid and perfect adaptation to nature.
The work of releasing endangered species, as unique as the brown bear, is previously established by a protocol; There are technical guidelines that must be followed that range from sedation and sample handling to transport and release.
In this work, led by the technical and veterinary staff of the Government of Castilla y León, veterinarians from the Principality of Asturias also participated. It is a mutual participation when the copy is released in Asturias, as was the case with Cova, and which allows a sharing of knowledge and experiences that enriches both teams. Environmental officers and guardians of the Council, as well as staff of the Bear Patrol of the Natural Heritage Foundation of the Government of Castilla y Leónwere responsible for carrying out the different phases of handling and transferring the bear.
Before finally releasing it into the wild, the animal had been in a room of approximately 25 meters since the previous night where it entered to feed. This allowed the Commission’s veterinarians to sedate him with a blowgun in order to transfer him to the room at the Valsemana center where his state of health was assessed.
Once in the authorized room, blood and hair samples were first extracted, which will allow us, among other things, to know their genetic variability. Physical measurements were taken and the condition of the claws he had lost when he was injured in the fire was checked, which showed that some of them had already started to recover. The soles of his paws are fully recovered and show no trace of the injuries sustained. Once his physical condition was assessed, the radiotracers were placed.
The location chosen for release was in an area close to the environment where he was rescued.. All experts agree that this will facilitate his rapid integration, because the environment in which he lived with his mother and his two other cubs before the accident will surely be familiar to him. During transport, carried out in a “Ponceau” trap, he was constantly monitored by camera to check his condition and accompanied by two veterinarians.
According to the Commission, the bear cub should have been in a hurry to return to its natural environment because, as soon as the door of its transport was raised, it ran at high speed between the oak trees. After a day and a half of monitoring, it was noted that it is moving widely over a large area, which probably constitutes reconnaissance of the territory.
According to Álvaro Soto, veterinary director of CRAS Valladolid and responsible for their release, the normal thing is that, if there is an abundance of food, they do not need to hibernate, since they do it as a resource when there is a lot of snowfall and when They have no food available, so it is very likely that they take long naps but not hibernation in the classic sense of the term.
The Barniedo bear was located by the staff of the Bear Patrol of the Natural Heritage Foundation of the Junta de Castilla y León after the advice of the residents of Barniedo de la Reina, in Leónwho saw a bear cub apparently limping in one of his paws.
Subsequently, rangers and environmental officers from the Council joined in to capture him and transport him to the Wildlife Recovery Center (CRAS) of Valladolidafter noticing that the soles of your paws were bloody, perhaps because you had walked on burnt ground.
At CRAS, he was dewormed, his wounds were cleaned and disinfected and he was given antibiotics to prevent infections. A process of healing and feeding her burned plants began so that she gained weight and autonomy until the moment of her transfer to the Valsemana acclimatization farm of the Junta de Castilla y León. He arrived there weighing just over 15 kilos.
During his stay in this closed enclosure, monitored by cameras and isolated from human presence, he was fed every two days by throwing food over the fence until he reached a weight of almost 30 kilos. From the first moment she showed her ability to easily climb trees and little relationship with Cova, the injured bear collected in Asturias with whom she shared an enclosure for a few weeks.
