SANTA CRUZ, N.M. – New Mexico’s only bear rehab center cared for 17 bears this summer, its busiest stretch in nearly a decade as thin cubs arrived from across the state.
The rush came after a lack of water and food pushed bears out of their natural habitats and into neighborhoods, dumpsters and backyards.
By mid-August, the Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation had 15 bears in its care. The total later reached 17, and the facility said the bears came from around New Mexico.
The foundation in Santa Cruz is the only bear rehab facility in New Mexico. Its record was 56 bears during the Cerro Grande wildfire in 2001, but Nirankar Horak said this year marked its busiest period in almost 10 years.
“A lot of the cubs that we’ve been bringing in, even a couple that had been with mother up until them coming in, they were still on the smaller side,” Horak said. “So we’re seeing really thin bears this year.”
The foundation mostly cares for cubs, but it also takes yearlings. One bear named Sunflower arrived from the Mescalero Apache Reservation in June at 22 pounds.
“So emaciated, so starving, that it was bone and some skin,” Horak said. “You know, a lot of the muscle was gone.”
Game and Fish helped release Sunflower last week at 132 pounds. Horak said each bear brings different challenges, but all of them need more food and as little human contact as possible.
“Keeping them in the wild is ultimately the best thing we can do,” Horak said. “And so, if we can takes steps to helping them stay in the wild. It’s much better for them.”
Caretakers said the cubs now at the center will likely stay in Santa Cruz until spring, when they are heavy enough to survive on their own. They also said bears try to eat close to 20,000 calories a day this time of year, so people should keep trash, pet food and bird feeders out of reach.
