2 days Ago By Ben Fenlon
Not everyone can wake up looking a million dollars after a power nap, and the same can be said for B.C.’s black bears emerging from their winter hibernation.
One bear in particular was caught looking all the worse for wear in Port Renfrew by Jennifer Heinrichs, who was stopped in her tracks on April 12 when she spotted the animal devoid of fur around the eyes and snout. “I didn't really pay attention to the missing fur on the face, initially I was just enamoured with the animal and watching what it was doing and getting decent shots of it,” said Heinrichs, who took the photos from a safe distance, inside her car. “It did look strange, it looked like it was wearing a mask like the Phantom of the Opera.
Otherwise, he was really healthy ...
it’s fat, and it's clearly had a good winter.” Wanting to get to the bottom of what was causing the bear’s hair loss, Heinrichs shared her snap in the Field Naturalists of Vancouver Island Facebook group. Here she was met with a wave of theories, including mange, a burn injury and frostbite, through to allegations of Heinrichs faking the image using AI technology.
The allegations were quickly dismissed by the group’s moderator Laura Briggs, who ensures all posts are checked and approved before publishing. “A more contentious moderator doesn't exist,” said Heinrichs. “She spends hours a day on it.
” Heinrichs also reached out to wildlife experts for help, including Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, who suggested the bare-faced bear could be suffering from “classic demodex ursi,” a skin mite unique to black bears. Residing in the hair follicles of black bears, the mites can cause a condition called demodicosis, which can lead to hair loss and other skin irritations. “Not contagious, hair will grow back,” said a representative from Northern Lights Wildlife Society in an email to Heinrichs.
Founder of Vancouver Island’s North Island Wildlife Recovery Association Robin Campbell also feels there is no cause for concern. “I wouldn’t worry about that bear, there's a lot of things that can be going on, but it could be just part of the spring coat blowout, which our bears get sometimes ..
. they grow in beautifully,” he told Sooke News Mirror in an email. “It could be a mite, but bears are very strong and will do fine.
”.
