Blessed, the most successful case of reincorporation of a brown bear into its habitat
Beato, the injured bear cub that roamed the region of Liébana (Cantabria) and had to be captured so as not to pose a danger to the population, has become the most successful case of reincorporation of a plantigrade into its natural habitat after having remained a few months in captivity.
A year ago this cub became news when it began to descend from the mountain to the towns of Liébana to get food from garbage bins or wherever possible.
His presence began to be a danger, especially because the "bear", about two and a half years, had a serious injury to his left front leg, which makes animals more aggressive, and because every day he took "more confidence" "And, even with the presence of man, the little plantigrade would go to the houses to see what he could eat.
This situation led to the Directorate General of the Natural Environment of Cantabria to make the decision to "catch" Beato, something that happened in January this year, when guards of that department and experts from the Ministry of Environment managed to capture the bear cub and move it to the center of recovery of wild fauna that has the autonomous community.
In that center, Blessed was treated of his serious wound in the left leg, which made him lose his forearm, but also enjoyed a space created especially for him, so that his captivity did not pose a problem in the face of his future reincorporation to his habitat.
One of the people responsible for the fact that Beato is considered the most successful case of the reintegration of a brown bear back into the mountains after being in captivity is the General Director of Natural Environment of Cantabria, Antonio Lucio, who, after capturing this Bearded, it was not so clear that today it would be through the meadows, forests and mountains of the eastern core of the Cantabrian mountains as a bear more than the nearly 40 that live in that space.
Lucio has reminded Efe all the "history" of this bear cub since it appeared uploaded in a garbage container of the town of Cambarco Lebaniego, and how they have been "following in their footsteps" until almost the end of July through a positioning system that he was placed to know that his reintegration into his habitat was correct and he did not return "to civilization".
Beato has been, since his release on the mountain in April, doing "what a bear does", looking for food naturally, walking through the forests and mountainous areas of the Cantabrian mountain range and "without any limitation" in their movements, except He limps because he walks with the "elbow" of his left leg.
Of what is not one hundred percent "safe", because Beato is his wild animal that can not be controlled to the millimeter, is if he has been with other bears, but is convinced that he has interacted with any of the copies who live in the eastern part of the Cantabrian mountain range.
In his first days back to his "house", the cub crossed five kilometers through a space that Lucio remembers being a mountain, with strong climbs and descents, and even forest guards from Castilla y León saw the animal in the Palencia area.
The control chambers of species that the Directorate General of Natural Environment has also reflected that Beato has gained weight and grown and that it is "in perfect condition", better than when he left the Cantabrian Wildlife Recovery Center, from which weighing almost 54 kilos compared to the 22 with which he arrived.
Antonio Lucio does not know exactly what are the reasons why the reintegration of this cub into his habitat is the most successful of those that have occurred so far, but also recognizes that so far have only been reinstated six copies, also with some type of injury.
However, he believes that it has been "vital" the performance of veterinarians who have participated in the assistance of this animal -among them, the Nature Park of Cabárceno- and, above all, the space that was created in the center of recovery so that Beato did not change his wild animal behavior.
The two and a half years of the cub can also have been key so that now it is "without problems", with a normal behavior of a bear and "moving stones and trunks" as if it had no limitations.
The causes of that success of the Ossetians, those who have managed to "return home" do not care, the only thing that matters is that this animal -which Blessed was in memory of the celebration of the Jubilee Year Lebaniego, linked to the Beato de Liébana- is in its habitat and is today one of the brown bears that roam the Cantabrian mountain range.
