“We have a bear-y cute photo to share with you.”
So read the social media release posted by New York State Police (NYSP) Troop D in Oneida to caption a photo of baby black bear cub cradled in the arms of Sergeant Station Commander Richard Kosakowski.
According to the statement, a passer-by was slowed down on West Ava Road in the Town of Ava on April 16, where the cub was alone in the road, causing – as the release tracked the pun – “a bear-ier” to traffic.
Kosakowski confirmed that passer-by was his brother, Daniel Kosakowski who called him about the stranded cub.
“He said the cub on was kind of crying, not moving much,” Trooper Kosakowski said. “He knew it was unusual for the area, so he called me.”
The trooper’s brother was concerned about doing nothing with a severe storm looming. Kosakowski arrived to find him standing in the bed of his pick-up truck keeping a sharp eye, thinking the mother bear could not be far, so the Trooper could examine the bear cub.
The cub was coaxed to the shoulder of the road. Kosakowski called the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Police and requested they come and get the cub.
They then went into the woods hoping to locate the mother bear, but could not find her.
“So, I put on my leather gloves and picked him up,” said Kosakowski., who had identified the cub was a girl. “When I picked her up, she stopped crying and settled down in my arms. It was kind of cool.”
When he put her down in the back seat of troop car, she started crying again, so Kosakowski decided to stay with her and hold her till DEC arrived.
Kosakowski said this was his first bear.
“I’ve seen a lot, turtles, cows, chickings donkeys; I’ve been a cop for 17+ years,” said Kosakowski, who shared he began his career with the Utica Police Department. “This was my first live bear.”
“So many times we get called after the fact, for a deceased animal,” continued Kosakowski, “so to be able to rescue an animal and get it to safety, to get there in time? It’s a good outcome.”
Chain of bear cub custody
Kosakowski transferred the bear cub to the DEC Officer Jeff Hull of Region 6, who was in the area on “fishing detail,” checking for licenses, over-fishing, open burning, so was able to retrieve the bear cub from NYSP and bring her to Woodhaven Wildlife Center in Chadwicks.
“They are just an amazing organization,” said “Kosakowski. “They do a great job.”
Judy Cusworth, who identified herself as “founder, director and president” of Woodhaven took custody of the bear cub later on April 16.
You could call her Coal
Cusworth shared that, while she is not a “bear expert” so can’t confirm, the cub is black so “appears to be a black bear.”
While Cusworth, who takes on about 300 rescued animals last year, feels “there’s not enough names for them all,” a volunteer thought that they could call her Coal … because she’s black as coal.
“It’s this year’s baby,” said Cusworth, “she only weighs 2.7 pounds.”
Cusworth and another volunteer volleyed to guess “Coal’s” age, landing in the range of one month, “maybe not even.”
Cusworth reports that Coal the cub is not injured and appears to be in good health.
She shared she had a couple of bear cubs several years ago, but transferred them pretty quickly to her “bear guy,” so she was unsure what to feed the infant bear cub. When she contacted the “bear guy,” Davis Loverde of Hunter in Greene County, he advised her to feed Coal Vanilla Ensure.
Cusworth reports that the cub didn’t respond at first but has been eating since she served it in a bowl.
Cusworth has made arrangements to meet Loverde on, April 18, to place Coal the black bear cub in his care.
NYS DEC regulations allow only individuals licensed to do so to rehab bears
NYSP Public Information Officer Trooper Jennifer Jiron shared that this is the first bear cub rescue she’s known of in her eight years with Oneida-based Troop D. Cusworth agrees that they are rare.
Because her rescue is not licensed to rehabilitate bears, the DEC allows Cusworth to shelter them only temporarily until she is able to arrange transfer to a rescue that is so licensed. Upon taking temporary custody of the bear, she immediately reached out to Davis Loverde of Hunter, NY in Greene County, who is licensed to rehab bears.
“I think he is the only rescue in the State of New York who is licensed for bears,” said Cusworth. “The DEC sets the conditions for what the caging has to be,” said Cusworth. “We have to follow their regulations.”
Cushworth shared that what the DEC requires for caging bear cubs would cost hers – or any rescue organization – between $20K – $30K.
“Rehabbers don’t get paid. They are volunteers. We live on donations,” said Cusworth. “So that’s why there are hardly any bear rehabbers in New York state.”
Where is Mama Bear?
Cusworth shared that troopers from NYSP Troop D and DEC team members searched the area surrounding where the cub was found in an effort to find the mother or possibly any other cubs that might be abandoned.
An Ava resident in that area shared that she was familiar with the cub and its mother; camera footage from the resident’s property the evening of April 15 showed them together, the mother bear and just the one cub.
As far as Cusworth knows, that was the last time the mother bear was seen.
Cusworth said that whether or not the cub would be reunited with the mother bear, if she’s found, could depend upon how long that takes.
“If it’s too long,” said Cusworth, “she might not take her back.”
In the case that there is no reunion with the mother and cub, Cusworth is not sure how a release of the bear cub might be handled and will query Loverde about that when they meet to exchange the bear cub.
She shared that, again, because most rescues are entirely volunteer and rely on donations, their resources are limited and they don’t usually have a lot of property, so a hard release might look like nursing an animal back to health, returning to the habitat where it was found with it in a cage, opening the cage door, and just let them go.
“We have a unique situation,” said Cusworth. “I am on 150 acres, so we do soft releases.”
Cusworth described a soft release as transferring an animal from an indoor to outdoor cage. A next step would transporting the animal in an outdoor cage to the habitat in which or near where it was found.
“We leave the cage there for about 10 days with the door closed, monitoring the animal, feeding it, so that it can get reacquainted with where it is, the sounds of other animals, scents, etc.,” explained Cusworth. “Then, we open the door. We keep going back with food, cleaning the cage, until they don’t come back anymore.”
Cusworth concluded, “then we clean up the cage until we need to do it again.”
She is doing it again now, as she is currently caring for a baby fox with an injured eye.
What to do if you sight what might be the Cub’s Mama Black Bear
Anyone who sees a black bear in the vicinity of West Ava Road where the bear cub was found who might be the cub’s mother should contact the DEC at 315-866-6330 or the NYSP Troop D at 315-366-6000 with the time and location of the sighting. Residents should not attempt to approach the bear.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Bear cub alone on road in Ava rescued by NYS trooper
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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