Wildlife Medical Center, Korea National Park Service, Gurye, 57616, Republic of Korea.
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Biomaterial R&BD Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwanju, 61186, Republic of Korea.
BMC Vet Res. 2021 Mar 20;17(1):125. doi: 10.1186/s12917-021-02834-9.
The rehabilitation of injured wildlife and their subsequent release into the wild is a humane act as well as important in wildlife conservation. However, little is known about the animals' fate after release. Therefore, to address these uncertainties, it is essential to adequately describe how the injured animals were treated and managed before releasing into the wild; moreover, post-release monitoring should also be performed. Herein, we document for the first time the process of rescue, surgery, and rehabilitation of severely injured Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus; endangered species in South Korea) and their fate after returning to the wild.
A six-year-old female (bear-01) and a three-year-old male (bear-02) bears were injured by an illegal snare and collision with a bus, respectively. Bear-01 had broad muscle necrosis and ruptures from the snared ankle on the right thoracic limb, with myiasis, and elbow disarticulation was performed. In bear-02, a non-reducible comminuted fracture of the left humerus was confirmed radiologically, and the operation was performed by using dual plate fixation with hydroxyapatite and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2. The bear-01 and -02 were completely healed approximately 30 and 60 days after surgery, respectively. After that, they underwent rehabilitation for 8 and 25 days, respectively, in an outdoor enclosure similar to their natural habitat. Bear-01 and -02 were released into the wild after 45 and 99 days after surgery, respectively, and their mean daily movement distance during the first 30 days after releasing was 2.9 ± 2.1 and 1.3 ± 1.6 km, respectively. The annual mean 95% Kernel home-range size of bear-01 and bear-02 was 265.8 and 486.9 km, respectively. They hibernated every winter, gained weight, gave birth to cubs (bear-01), were not found to have any abnormalities in the veterinary tests, and were not involved in any conflicts with humans after returning to the wild.
Bears without one leg or those with dual plates could adapt well in their natural habitat, which shows that our surgical and post-operative treatments were effective. Additionally, minimizing human contact and observing/evaluating behavior during the rehabilitation is essential in reducing human-bear conflicts after release.
对受伤野生动物进行康复并将其放回野外是一种人道行为，对野生动物保护也很重要。然而，对于它们在释放后的命运却知之甚少。因此，为了解决这些不确定性，必须充分描述受伤动物在被放回野外之前的治疗和管理情况；此外，还应该进行释放后的监测。在这里，我们首次记录了严重受伤的亚洲黑熊（韩国濒危物种）的救援、手术和康复过程，以及它们返回野外后的命运。
一只 6 岁的雌性（熊 01）和一只 3 岁的雄性（熊 02）熊分别被非法陷阱和公共汽车撞伤。熊 01 的右胸肢脚踝处有广泛的肌肉坏死和破裂，有蝇蛆病，进行了肘离断术。在熊 02 中，通过放射学确认了左侧肱骨不可复位的粉碎性骨折，并通过使用双板固定加羟基磷灰石和重组人骨形态发生蛋白-2 进行了手术。熊 01 和熊 02 分别在手术后大约 30 天和 60 天完全愈合。此后，它们分别在类似于其自然栖息地的户外围栏中接受了 8 天和 25 天的康复。熊 01 和熊 02 分别在手术后 45 天和 99 天被放归野外，它们在放归野外后的头 30 天内的平均日移动距离分别为 2.9±2.1 和 1.3±1.6 公里。熊 01 和熊 02 的年平均 95%核密度家域大小分别为 265.8 和 486.9 平方公里。它们每年冬天都要冬眠，体重增加，生育幼崽（熊 01），兽医检查没有发现任何异常，返回野外后也没有与人发生任何冲突。
没有一条腿或有双板的熊可以很好地适应其自然栖息地，这表明我们的手术和术后治疗是有效的。此外，在康复期间尽量减少人与熊的接触并观察/评估行为对于减少释放后人与熊的冲突至关重要。
