Bear cub euthanized after wandering onto Calgary-area ranch

What appears to have been an orphaned black bear cub has met a sad end in the Priddis area, just southwest of Calgary.

What appears to have been an orphaned black bear cub has met a sad end in the Priddis area, just southwest of Calgary.

It started on a cattle ranch on Thursday, Oct 1.

“I came out with my coffee in the morning, and there was this bear cub sitting on our front porch,” rancher Jim Coleman said. “This little guy, it looked like he hadn’t been eating, so we put out some apples for him.”

The cub made himself right at home.

“He was eating apples in the apple tree right adjacent to our front door, wandering around, not really bothering anyone,” Coleman said.

The young bear remained around the property through Friday with no sign of a mother bear, so Coleman figured he’d better call in a conservation officer.

“He said the bear cub wouldn’t survive the winter, and he was going to put him down,” Coleman said, “and that appalled me.”

A statement emailed to Global News by Alberta Fish and Wildlife says the “difficult decision” to shoot the bear was made because it was “very skinny and did not appear to be healthy.”