On April Fools Day, when motorists discovered three ridiculously cute, teddy-sized, two-month-old black bear cubs inside a locked roadside washroom in Banff National Park, it must have seemed like some kind of prank. Alberta likely would have euthanized them, as they have dozens of other orphaned black bears, in accordance with a 2010 law prohibiting the rehabilitation of black bears without special permission. There is also already a high black bear population. That law is why no sanctuary in Alberta could take them, but the province also refused to approve their export through the Calgary airport, which is how a B.C. The last option would have been a zoo, according to Parks Canada, but Ontario has more flexible rules, and permits black bear rehabilitation so long as they are released back into the same environment.

Source: National Post April 18, 2017 22:52 UTC