PAWS fills need to care for more bears

As a regional leader in wildlife rehabilitation, PAWS cares for injured and orphaned black bear cubs. With increasingly severe wildfires in our state, more animals are affected, and the need for our services continues to grow. Caring for bear cubs is no small feat: they arrive too young to survive a winter in the wild on their own and remain in PAWS’ care for up to a full year before release. Our current wildlife facility in Lynnwood has space to care for a maximum of six cubs. In the fall and winter of 2022, with our bear enclosures already full for the season, PAWS received several calls about bear cubs in desperate need of help. When PAWS is at capacity, there are not many options.

Fortunately, PAWS will have ample space for cubs in need at the new Wildlife Center in Snohomish. The new recovery habitat for bears—which features nearly an acre of outdoor pasture space—is large enough for 30 young bears at a time.

And because of you and supporters like you who have invested in this lifesaving project, at this time next year, bear cubs will be snug in their self-made dens in the new outdoor pasture, just months away from emerging from hibernation and returning to the wild where they belong.