As the early summer drought that produced fires and berry crop failures threaten the lives of cubs and yearlings, we are remembering the drought of 1985 that killed 60% of the cubs and 86% of yearlings and terminated the pregnancies of nearly all the mothers to be of that year.
This morning at 8:46 AM, it warmed my heart to see 3-year-old Snowball wake up in the top of a big white pine and yawn with her cub snuggled to her nipples. They then climbed down to where we had placed food for them at the bottom of the tree.
The same kind of help was going on throughout the area as has been the case since 1958.
The seven litters that are being helped are descendants of Shadow. Lineages of her descendants that are receiving supplemental food and staying out of trouble in this year of wild food failure follow. Numbers in parentheses are years of birth:
Shadow (1987), RC (1999), Bow (2006), Becky (2018), 3 cubs (2026)
Shadow (1987), RC (1999), Bow (2006), Bertha (2022), 2 cubs (2026)
Shadow (1987), Blackheart (1997), Braveheart (2002), Samantha (2009), Lucy (2016), Lilo (2023), 3 cubs (2026)
Shadow (1987), Blackheart (1997), Braveheart (2002), Jani (2011), Jaci (2023), 2 cubs (2026)
Shadow (1987), Blackheart (1997), Braveheart (2002), Katherine (2019), cubs William and Kathy (2026)
Shadow (1987), June (2001), Lily (2007), 3 cubs (2026)
Shadow (1987), June (2001), Jewel (2009), Andrea (2020), Snowball (2023), cub Atrox (male) (2026)
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center