Han Solo (Hans), Nelson’s orphaned brown-black bear, has been roaming through town the last few weeks, sparking community concerns over his sickly appearance.
However, Katie Graves, co-founder of the URSA Project, a non-profit bear-smart organization formed after Hans’ mother and brother were killed by conservation officers last fall, says despite his slender physique, Hans is relatively healthy.
“The experts who have evaluated him said his body condition is good. He looks skinny to us because he doesn’t have top fur. That would make him look much chubbier than he is.
He doesn’t have mange; mange is itchy and scabby, and he’s none of those things. There’s not a lot of worry about his physical health, but his mental health, you know, he’s had a rough life.”
Hans was under a year old when his mother and brother were killed by conservation officers. Graves explains how Hans ran up a tree at the time his family was being taken away, where he stayed and cried for days after.
“When his mom and brother were shot, the other cub went up a tree. He knew his mom had taught him to go up to the tree for safety, and he sat at the top of that tree for several nights wailing, and the neighbours heard it and reported it.”
The incident sparked the start of the URSA project, to reduce the number of lethal bear encounters in the community by promoting bear awareness.
It was nearly a year after his family was killed that URSA realized Hans survived the winter. Graves says concern that he was alive but unwell began late this summer when there were multiple reports of an unhealthy, young, brown bear roaming solo throughout town.
“I started thinking, wait a second, he’s the exact age. He’s got unusual colouring; if you look at the colouring of his mommy, you’ll see it’s very much the same. So I sent some videos to bear biologists, veterinarians, behaviourists, and asked them, is there a possibility that this is the same bear? And they all said, spot on.”
Although physically he’s alright, Graves says her organization’s main concern was his mental state; however, she was relieved to see in the fall that he made friends.
“There was a very heartwarming moment when Hans was observed with another bear about his age, a very black bear, which was not a family member, playing on the slide in Gyro Park, and I said, he made a friend.”
There have been no sightings of Hans in nearly three days, and although it’s rare, Graves is hoping that he found his new friend and denned with them.
“It’s pretty rare, but sometimes when bears don’t have families, they will partner with another bear to stay warm and be a team. He may know where his friend, that he was playing with, is denning and he may have gone to join him there. But that’s part of the mystery of nature how they find them and how they go back to them or find new ones.”