Grizzly orphans sent to Saskatoon zoo

2008-06-17

Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald

Two grizzly cubs orphaned in the mountain wilderness will continue to share a home.

Mistaya and Koda were moved from Calgary to the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo late last week.

It's the first time in the facility's history that it has housed grizzly bears.

Mistaya is the sole surviving cub of Bear 66, a well known grizzly around Banff National Park that was killed by a train in 2005. The cub's two siblings were run over on the Trans-Canada Highway soon after their mother's death.

Fearing his demise, Parks Canada captured Mistaya and sent him to Calgary Zoo, where he was paired with Koda, a grizzly cub found abandoned near Grande Prairie.

After three years in captivity awaiting a permanent home, the two males will now live in a 7,000-square-foot enclosure built specifically for them. It features a swimming pond and trees.

The search for a permanent home for the orphaned cubs has been fraught with controversy.

Parks Canada took Mistaya to Calgary Zoo while searching for a suitable home. Officials decided against returning him to the wilderness. Various wildlife refuges offered to take the cubs. Conservation groups called on Parks Canada to release the cubs back into the wild to fend for themselves, rather than endure captivity.

"Fundamentally, we believe wild animals should be left wild, and if that means exposing them to a certain amount of risk, so be it," said Dave Poulton, local spokesman for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

The Saskatoon zoo is pleased to add the bears to its collection of Canadian animals.

"For an education species, it's perfect. We promote indigenous species and bears are a traditional grassland species," said facility manager John Moran.

The Calgary Zoo's curator travelled with the bears to their new home.

"We have watched these two cubs grow up and it is really wonderful to have found a home for them at an accredited institution in Western Canada where the brotherly relationship that has developed can continue," said curator Bob Peel.