At just a few months old, he was separated from his mother and siblings. Disoriented and inexperienced, he took a wrong path and entered an area where a power line had caused a fire. He didn’t know what he was walking on until his paws were burned. Injured, he looked for food and shelter and reached the Leonese town of Barniedo de la Reina, where a neighbor asked for help. A month and a half later, this cub has regained his mobility, but before being free again, he must “detoxify” from human contact thanks to the care that kept him from living a wild life. He does this in a bear acclimatization refuge, sheltered in the mountains, where he shares space with Cova, a small plantigrade rescued in April in Asturias. The plan is that in a few weeks they will go out together to recover their habitat before the cold arrives and hibernate in the wild where, who knows, when they are adults, they will be able to give new followers to a species that, despite its favorable evolution, continues to drag the surname of “in danger of extinction”. In 2019, these facilities for bears separated from their habitat began to operate in Valsemana (La Ercina, León). Its purpose is to allow them to get used to freedom, gain strength and weight and see if they are able to survive alone. They are only fed, but “by strangers” and their surveillance is done by cameras. Managed by the Junta de Castilla y León, they receive all the specimens in distress in the Cantabrian Mountains, where about 370 plantigrades live. In five years, three cubs have passed through there and successfully returned “home” and now they welcome Cova and the other cub – the first to which they did not give a name to avoid bonds, although they know him as “the little one” -. Feeding every three days. Two forest rangers bring them food that they throw to them on the other side of the wall. They also put water for them. In the last image, Cova inside the cabin where the IVÁN TOMÉ/JCYL tank is located. They arrived there after a long journey. The female appeared alone in Cubia-Proaza. There is a cave in a rock that has been a trap for young people on several occasions. In this case, it was found in perfect condition, “the main hypothesis being an accidental fall”. She weighed only 1.9 kilos and was first transferred to the Villaescusa Wildlife Recovery Center (Cantabria) until he was 20 years old. The male spent five weeks at the Wildlife Recovery Center (CRAS) in Valladolid to treat some wounds that could have become infected and turned into insect nests. Shared house Now, the two share a hectare divided by a fence. The first step is for them to see each other, know that the other is there and accept it. Their behavior is very different. The female runs constantly, is more robust and knows that this is her home since July. She is used to the space and has an advantage. The male, on the other hand, is having a more difficult time. It is elusive. He arrived in September and usually takes refuge in a cave or climbs trees. They don’t even pay attention when the forest rangers come to bring them food every three days. What they cannot do is internalize that it is humans who feed them, because otherwise, when they leave, they will go to a city to ask for a dish on the table. That is why the food is thrown to them from the other side of the wall, without visual contact and the plantigrades do not look for it either. Cova hears the car and leaves, while the guards go to the place where they pour water on him and check three times that he is not inside. He weighs more than 30 kilos. They close their trap and fill the tank. Then they begin the “distribution” of three buckets of fruit and meat. Nothing is done at random, since everything responds to a strategy: the location of the cub is changed each time so that he does not get used to it. For the male, they throw him towards the area where he could see his roommate. He usually settles at the other end of the farm. The cub inside the acclimatization farm and a detail of the burns on the paws JCYLD For the moment, everything is going in their favor, they have regained agility and corpulence – in this phase. of their growth, they are doing it by leaps and bounds. Thus, the roadmap indicates that in a few days the second stage will be reached: coexistence. The barrier that separates them will be removed and they will physically share the space. When this happens, a team will be outside prepared in case it is necessary to intervene. The Ministry of the Environment explains that this should not be necessary, because the most “likely” is that if they fought, the noise of an engine would make them disperse. Hostility is not expected either. Bears can engage in brutal confrontations, but it is usually during the mating season that males attack the cubs in order to keep their mother available. The fight that took place in 2022 on a cliff in the mountains of Palencia remains in the memories. The cameras recorded a 200-kilogram specimen trying to attack a bear cub. The female came to its defense. The adult ended up falling. There was no happy ending for the family. They took refuge in a cave, although they ended up falling into a 30-meter chasm. MORE INFORMATION news No The bear cub recovered from burns has doubled its weight and its transfer to the brown bear enclosure in Valsemana (León) is being considered. news No The bear cub Cova, rescued in Asturias, is preparing for its return to the wild. In this way, and based on positive experiences in other countries, it is expected that in October the two cubs will leave together. It will be the first time that this has happened in Spain, since several cases have never coincided at the same time before. This reinforces their position in an environment in which, if they had not abruptly abandoned, they would continue to be accompanied by their mother, with whom they remain for up to a year and a half or two of their life. Afterwards, they are solitary animals, except during the mating season. Although, at least now, as children, they would desire each other. The winter sleep will do a “reset” in them and they will wake up from their lethargy, now far from trauma and in their true home.
