Costumed Care: A Wild Approach to Wildlife Rehabilitation
Autumn Welch and her team at the San Diego Humane Society use costumed caregivers to rehabilitate an orphaned black bear cub in California. This method prevents the cub from bonding with humans, aiding its eventual return to the wild. The innovative technique also finds application in caring for other orphaned animals.
- Country:
- United States
An innovative approach is helping rehabilitate orphaned animals at the San Diego Humane Society, where caregivers don costumes to prevent bonding with humans. Autumn Welch, wildlife operations manager, leads the team nurturing a black bear cub orphaned in Southern California's Los Padres National Forest.
Discovered malnourished and alone, the cub has flourished under the humane society's care, quadrupling in size since April. Caregivers in bear costumes feed and interact with the cub, mimicking natural behaviors to prepare for its eventual return to the wild.
The costumed-care technique is burgeoning, yielding successes in raising various orphaned wildlife and drawing parallels to similar strategies employed elsewhere, such as the Richmond Wildlife Centre's fox kit care program in Virginia.
(With inputs from agencies.)
Google News