April 10^th was officially adopted by the Gopher Tortoise Council as Gopher Tortoise Day! In Florida, gopher tortoises are found in parts of all 67 counties and are frequently encountered in neighborhoods, along roadways, and in many of Florida’s public parks and forests. The goal of Gopher Tortoise Day is to increase awareness and appreciation for these long lived, gentle reptiles.

Gopher tortoises are considered a keystone species because they dig burrows that provide shelter for 360 other species of wildlife, called “commensals.” These commensal species include the gopher frog, Florida mouse, eastern indigo snake, and hundreds of invertebrates like beetles and crickets. Without the gopher tortoise, many of these species would not exist.

You can help celebrate Florida’s only native tortoise by hosting an event in your community, asking your local City or County Commission to officially adopt April 10^th as Gopher Tortoise Day, and by educating others on the importance of protecting gopher tortoises.

Use the menu above to access resources, including the resolution template, ideas for hosting your own event along with hands-on activities, and educational materials that can be printed and distributed to friends and neighbors in your community.

Learn more about the gopher tortoise by visiting MyFWC.com/GopherTortoise or GopherTortoiseCouncil.org.

We received a call from Florida Fish & Wildlife last night, asking if we had room for her. This cub’s mother was hit by a car and she was still attempting to nurse as her mother’s body was collected from the roadside. She arrived this morning.

This late in the year, Florida black bear cubs are normally old enough to survive on their own even if something happens to their mother. This little girl, however, is stunted for some reason and only weighs about 25 pounds. Most cubs are practically double that weight by the end of October.

We named her Greta, although she will not really learn her name. Since we will not let her see or hear humans at the sanctuary, she will not actually be spoken to, but we will call her by name when we refer to her among ourselves. Remaining silent in the area of her habitat and staying on the opposite side of our visual barriers is extremely important to ensure that she retains her current fear of people and wild nature.

If an orphaned cub is very young or needs medical attention, we will allow a staff member to have limited contact as long as it is required to ensure that the cub would grow to be healthy enough for release. As soon as they are healthy enough to simply need food and time to gain weight (like Greta), it is our job to ensure that they have no contact with people so that they do not learn to associate humans with food.

Proper shyness of humans is what will keep her deep in the forest where she will be released – far away from people.

With everyone’s generous support, Greta and all of the animals at the sanctuary will have the nutritious food and excellent veterinary care they deserve.

We will keep you posted on her progress as she gains weight and is released back into the wild!

Luckily, this little bear won’t be in captivity long. She was captured in a backyard by FWC, near too many humans…in a place that was not the best for bears.

She came to us for evaluation and will be ready to go soon! She is being held in our rehabilitation area, far from any human activity. She is prevented from seeing people while she is at our sanctuary.

Poor little Faye was old enough to be on her own, but was covered in ticks and parasites – she was anemic from that struggle. We gave her an extra boost of deworming and a little time to gain strength. Faye is scheduled to be released after the hog hunting is finished next week.

This adorable bear is lucky – even though she was captured in a neighborhood, she is still properly afraid of humans and since she is so young, she hasn’t had a chance to establish her own territory.

That works wonderfully for her because she can be set free in a more appropriate place in Florida, far away from humans, without the risk of her returning to the same place to discover people’s trash and learning to become a nuisance bear.

Many people have been calling with this question.

Here are some answers that may make you feel a little bit better…

• YES, our facility is licensed to rehabilitate black bear cubs, but we can only take cubs brought to us by Wildlife Authorities
• YES, there were lactating females (sows) killed in the hunt
• Were there pregnant females killed in the hunt?
  • Technically NO
  • There were probably females killed that mated over the summer, however, bears have delayed implantation meaning that the blastocysts remain dormant and do not develop into embryos and implant in the uterus until November. This ensures that the young are born while in the den over the winter and emerge in the spring when food is abundant
  • If a female bear does not have sufficient body condition or the environment is not favorable to raise offspring, the blastocysts will be absorbed and no pregnancy will result
• Do the cubs left behind need our help or intervention….NO……why?
  • All black bear cubs are born in January & early February, making them about 9 months old at the time of the hunt
  • Although cubs will stay with their mother until their second summer, by 7 months of age they are typically weaned, although they may continue to nurse a little longer if Mom will allow it
  • By now, the cubs are eating an abundance of natural foods like acorns, palmetto berries and more, mother’s milk is not necessary for their proper development
  • They have already learned everything required for survival from Mom. Black bears do not hunt, they are opportunistic feeders with 85% of their diet consisting of plant matter.
  • Studies show that by their first winter, the yearlings know how to build a ‘nest’ with or without Mom, it is an instinctual behavior
  • They can climb a tree better than any of their natural predators in Florida and will do so immediately when threatened
• Should I go into the woods to try to find cubs orphaned by the hunt? NO!
  • Why? Out of all the female bears in the woods, only a small percentage were killed in the hunt.
  • Not only do the orphaned cubs not need our intervention, if you find a cub in the woods, Mom is probably right behind you!!
  • There are deer hunters in the woods right now – this is not a good time for people to be hiking around and inviting accidents when it truly serves no purpose
  • As stated above, the cubs are old enough to survive on their own. Bringing them into a captive situation simply to offer them food is unnecessary and increases their contact with humans. This puts them at higher risk of becoming nuisance bears and being killed after they are released
• When do bear cubs need our help?
  • Cubs that are orphaned in their first year often need professional intervention in order to survive if they weigh less than 30 pounds on or after August 1
    • In January & February – When they are first born they are tiny and helpless. They cannot thermoregulate and require Mom to take care of their every need. Any cubs orphaned at this age would certainly die without intervention, luckily Mom seldom leaves their side
    • As they begin to grow and Mom takes them out to forage for food in the spring and early summer, they still require mother’s milk and the family is moving. This increases the chances of being hit by a car or finding their way into people’s trash or attractants, learning to become nuisance bears. Nothing is more fatal to a bear than being ‘fed’ by humans. This will create more orphans than any other man-made threat
    • If the cubs are captured getting into garbage and are young enough to need intervention, they usually have a second chance. They can be rehabilitated and released into proper bear habitat for a second chance at growing up as a properly-behaving bears. As an adult, this won’t work for Mom – it is too late for her
• What can I do to help bears in Florida?
  • Share this page
  • Encourage your neighbors and everyone you speak with to contain their trash and attractants
  • Remember that “A fed bear is a dead bear” – and focus on preventing the largest preventable cause of orphaned cubs, nuisance bears created by people failing to secure their trash and bird feeders