An adventurous black bear cub was apprehended as it attempted to cross the Canada-U.S. border without the necessary paperwork earlier this month.
The intrepid young explorer, clearly ignoring the nonessential-travel ban, was captured by officials at the Hyder-Stewart border crossing in northern British Columbia.
“After a forceful attempt on its part to cross the border, our officers moved quickly to apprehend and transfer it to the Smither’s Northern Lights Wildlife Society for the winter,” the tweet read.
Bears will sometimes approach human structures, like border kiosks, looking for easy sources of food such as garbage. As winter approaches, they are looking to fatten up in preparation for hibernation.
Angelika Langen, who works at the Northern Lights rescue, told CTV News that they had been tracking the bear for about a month in the hopes of helping her survive the winter.
The cub, who lost her mother, was given the name Annie, after Little Orphan Annie.
“It’s believed the mother was killed in a vehicle accident,” Langen said, adding that Annie was severely underweight and unprepared for hibernation. “She came in at around 21 pounds, and she should have been around 50.”
Annie’s hunger, however, made it much easier to trap her at the border. “Within minutes of putting the trap with food down, Annie said I’ve had enough of this life and she came home to us,” Langen said.
“We release them at the same time so they’re genetically primed to find their home,” Langen said.
The rescue urged anyone who sees small cubs that appear to have been orphaned—meaning they have been spotted on their own on multiple occasions—to report the sightings to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
One fact that remains unknown, however, is whether Annie was looking to enter Alaska from Canada, or to enter Canada, possibly to escape fallout from the purported results of the U.S. election.
