IBBR Celebrates 30 Years of Bear Rehab May 2019
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO DONATED DURING IDAHO GIVES TO HELP US MEET OUR GOAL OF $3500! WE COULDN'T DO ALL WE DO TO HELP BEARS WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT.
Hi Everyone,
I'm not known for being short & sweet. I've been writing fiction and reality stories since Junior High & tend to keep going until I feel it's been said properly. I'm also a professed perfectionist so double whammy to being short & sweet.
I founded IBBR on May 5th, 1989 with the arrival of Ruggles. What a handful, what a joy, what an incentive, what a lifetime of memories, what a living teddy bear - for a couple of weeks anyway. After founding IBBR, when it came to bears, I could rave about them forever & the many joys of these marvelous critters. If you read Why Bears on our website, I think you will understand my thoughts. I wasn't trying to humanize bears, I was trying to point out how much more they gave to me that is sometimes lacking in humans.
CONGRATULATIONS TO AMY KIDWELL, THE BEARS, & IBBR
So - Long & Short of it is: I'm both pleased and excited to announce that on Sunday, May 5th which is IBBR's 30th Anniversary, I will be turning over much of the duties of IBBR to Amy Kidwell. She will become President and I will focus on some administration duties. Amy joined IBBR July 8, 2009. I knew it would take someone special to take on the bears and Amy is very much that person. She has mastered, as I did to grasp the mystifying "learn to read the eyes" instructions. She can read the bears, know what they are likely to do (or not do), welcomes the same joys, smiles, touching moments, and embrace the short term trust they can give to us as caretakers in their time of need. I happily turn over IBBR to her - she has earned it.
Amy has a strong love for animals and now shares that love for the bears in IBBR's care. I have no doubts they are in even better care as when I had that responsibility. While I do have some strong feelings about some aspects of care (like not changing the life-saving formula be it adult or cub & no people names for the bears), Amy will have her own ideas and ways of doing things. Some may work out better and some may not - it is a learning experience no matter how long you have worked with the bears. Bears have both an individual personality and a group personality & they can be very different.
Overall, you have my word that I have complete faith in Amy & ask that you support her as you did me when I was doing the day to day care and all the physical work involved. Many of you have come to know Amy via Facebook & Instagram and the photos & video she has posted over the years. She has taken on full responsibility for the bears day to day care since day one so there is no doubt and no concerns in making this change.
As for me - wildlife rehabilitators never retire. Physically they must at some point, but mentally our minds are always telling us "yes you can" & then our body just laughs at us. I will always be IBBR's founder of which I am very proud. Truth be told, I would rather be known as the Founder of IBBR than the President so I happily turn that title & responsibility over to Amy. I will always have the many experiences and blessing bestowed on me by the bears - some funny, some a bit scary, some worrisome, and some emotionally overwhelming in the amount of empathy they showed me during difficult times.
I will continue to be available to consult with Amy, send out quarterly updates, monthly thank you for donations, work on updating the website, continue with the chapters of the book, work on grants (not my best forte - anyone out there like to help us with that?), and maybe, just maybe I'll have time in all that to start our Bears First newsletters again.
In case you have any other concerns, my physical health is fine considering the "new experience" of old age. My mental health...well, since as a kid growing up at Redfish Lake Lodge I was always the one standing under the trees in the middle of a huge rain & lightening storm, maybe that could be called into question at times ... ha ha. On the other hand, I literally have thousands of hours of video & memories in my mind and I thank each and every bear for that. It's a gift from them that I will treasure forever.
CONGRATULATIONS TO AMY, TO IBBR, TO ALL THE BEARS NOW & IN THE FUTURE
Sally Maughan - IBBR Founder & Wildlife Rehabilitator
May 5, 2019
Statistics On Rehabilitated Cubs
November 18 - December 27
January 1 - July 27
4 - California
134 - Idaho
6 - Nevada
10 - Oregon
32 - Utah
33 - Washington
6 - Wyoming
158 - still alive - radio collars or ear tags not turned in or found to indicate bears dead
54 - 4 euthanized in human-bear conflicts, rest killed by hunters, predators, cars, poachers, unknown
1 - placed in permanent captive facility - final disposition unknown (won't do again)
9 - died of injuries or illness while in rehab
3 - still in rehab as of April 2019
225 Bears From 7 States
1989 - 1 bear - Ruggles- Male - Idaho - He started it all.
1990 - 0 bears
1991 - 1 bear - Female - Idaho
1992 - 5 bears - 2 male & 3 female - Idaho
1993 – 5 bears – 3 female & 2 male – Idaho
1994 – 13 bears – 5 female & 8 male – all Idaho
1995 – 1 bear – male – Idaho
1996 – 3 bears – 1 female – 2 male – all Idaho
1997 – 0 bears
1998 – 11 bears – 5 female – 6 male – 2 Oregon – 8 Idaho – 1 Washington
1999 – 6 bears – 2 female – 4 male – 2 Utah – 3 Idaho – 1 Oregon
2000 – 22 bears – 12 female – 11 male – 4 Utah – 1 Oregon – 18 Idaho
2001 – 7 bears – 2 female – 5 male – 2 Idaho – 3 California – 2 Wyoming
2002 – 6 bears – 5 female – 1 male – 3 Utah – 1 Idaho
2003 – 1 bear – female – Idaho
2004 – 37 bears – 13 female – 24 male – 3 Washington – 19 Idaho – 13 Utah – 1 Oregon - 1 Wyoming
2005 – 4 bears – 3 female – 1 male – 2 Idaho – 1 Utah – 1 Washington
2006 – 9 bears – 4 female – 5 male – 2 Washington – 5 Idaho – 1 Oregon – 1 Utah
2007 – 53 bears – most difficult year for bears & IBBR – 22 female – 31 male – 1 California - 4 Utah - 6 Nevada - 42 Idaho
2008 – 6 bears – 5 female – 1 male – 4 Washington – 2 Oregon
2009 – 9 bears – 4 females – 5 males – 5 Washington, 3 Utah, 1 Oregon
2010 – 9 bears – 3 female – 6 male – 8 Washington – 1 Idaho
2011 – 3 bears – 2 females, 1 male – 1 Washington – 1 Utah – 1 Oregon
2012 – 2 bears – 1 female – 1 male – 2 Washington
2013 – 2 bears – 1 female – 1 yearling male – Idaho
2014 – 3 bears – 1 female – 2 male – 2 Washington – 1 Wyoming
2015 – 8 bears – 5 female – 2 male – 8 Washington
2016 – 0 bears
2017 – 2 bears – 2 female – Washington
2018 – 2 bears – 2 male – Washington
- Idaho Black Bear Rehab, Inc. (IBBR)