Rescued bear cub 'Ike' dies

One of two male bear cubs rescued last month from Allamuchy State Park has died, according to the staff that cared for it at Woodlands Wildlife Refuge in Hunterdon County.

The nonprofit refuge in Pittstown had hoped to return the cubs, affectionately named Mike and Ike, to the wild and care of a "foster" mother bear. But the refuge announced Monday on its Facebook page that Ike "has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to join his mother and two siblings. Mike is still in our care and doing well."

"With all of the wild orphans we work with we are always up against this possibility," the post stated. "It is our reality that wild lives interrupted by human encounters, as unintentional as they may be, suffer greatly from known and unknown trauma and stresses. It is always hard to loose an innocent life in our care but it makes us honor our successes in giving second chances even more. We acknowledge that in spite of our best efforts as wildlife rehabilitators, we are only second best to those wild mothers."

Ike's mother was killed on Jan. 13 after a freak encounter with a deer hunter — a Dover police officer — who shot and wounded it after it bit him on the foot and would not let go. The bear was later euthanized by agents from the Fish and Wildlife division of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The agents also found four week-old bear cubs with the mother. Two of them had been crushed to death when their wounded mother fell on top of them, but Mike and Ike were saved.

SEE PREVIOUS STORY:

At the time, Refuge Executive Director Tracy Leaver said the cubs were in a critical period of transition from the natural wild to the refuge but are taking nourishment from a bottle in the form of a special formula designed for the species.

"They should be here for several weeks," she said. "We hope to foster them out to a wild bear that already has cubs. We did this successfully about four years ago with two other bear cubs. The great thing about that was we placed them with a bear we had rehabbed and returned to the wild about eight years previously."

INITIAL REPORT:

SEE PREVIOUS VIDEO:

Woodlands is a nonprofit, state-licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility dedicated to the care and release of orphaned and injured wildlife back to their natural habitat. It receives no state or federal funding.

"We will continue to bring you updates of Mike's progress and thank you so much for your support and well wishes," the refuge wrote Monday.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.