Orphaned bear cubs being assessed as candidate pleads for their survival

Two orphaned bear cubs whose survival was briefly made an election issue by a Nova Scotia candidate have been placed in wildlife parks while their health is assessed.

Allan MacMaster, the Progressive Conservative candidate for Inverness, said the bear cubs were found Monday trying to hide in Inverness County woods after their mother died.

MacMaster said in an open letter to the Department of Natural Resources' deputy minister that there is overwhelming support to change the province's current policy on rehabilitation for bears in this type of situation.

He claimed Nova Scotia is one of only two provinces that do not allow bears to be saved and reintroduced to the wild — and he said one of the bears would be euthanized.

But Bob Petrie, director of the Department of Natural Resources' wildlife division, said Tuesday that the department's policy allows for the rehabilitation of orphaned wildlife, and the province has qualified facilities to hold and rehabilitate wildlife for release.

One cub has been placed at Two Rivers Wildlife Park in Mira, while the other will be at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, 60 kilometres north of Halifax. Both facilities are equipped to care for bears, spokesperson Bruce Nunn said in an email.

"However, as bears quickly become used to humans, there is a high chance that they can become nuisance animals in a province like Nova Scotia, where we have a much smaller landscape with fewer remote areas compared to other provinces," he said in a statement.

The bears are experiencing "increased stress" and their health has not yet been determined, Nunn's email said.