[soft music]
- RYAN: The habitat here is undisturbed.
Some of the best habitat in the area.
To get to adequate bear country which we've selected here,
Devil's River State Natural Area,
you have to get off the beaten path.
We're hoping that this is the first step in reestablishing
this population of bears in west Texas.
[bear growling]
It's a great opportunity to put some bears back
on the landscape.
[dramatic music]
- NARRATOR: This is a happy story about bears
but it did not start that way.
- REPORTER: A black bear and her cub were spotted
roaming around a Del Rio neighborhood
causing quite a scene with neighbors.
It was a somewhat chaotic situation that had
a tragic ending.
Officials said the mother bear was shot
and killed by a resident.
The cub is now in custody of state officials.
- NARRATOR: Two separate black bears in sad circumstances.
- One was orphaned from a Del Rio resident
that shot the mother.
The other bear was in a horrific train accident.
The party that she was a part of two were killed by the train.
And this is the last one of the group.
Four to five year old female.
They weren't in good shape.
And given the age of the cub,
it was my feeling
that we weren't gonna be able to do anything
for these bears.
- This bear has gone from 60 pounds, she weighed in at 128.
- NARRATOR: Enter Dr. Kathleen Ramsey.
- So she's really put on a lot of weight.
- NARRATOR: She is a veterinarian in New Mexico.
- Such good hound dogs.
Animals need help.
That's why I'm a veterinarian.
I will look again.
They can't just knock on your door and say, here I am.
All wildlife.
I don't care what it is, needs help.
So pretty.
Yes.
- NARRATOR: At her wildlife clinic, Dr. Ramsey has
successfully rehabilitated more than 600 black bears.
- Been doing rehabilitation for over 40 years, now.
It's been an interesting challenge.
The first two Texas bears
that I know of being rehabilitated.
I live in Northern New Mexico,
we do Northern New Mexico bears and not Mexico bears.
So I had to first figure out what does she eat?
They're getting their second chance.
This is what it's all about.
Okay, one, two, three.
- Okay.
Our success in rehabilitation is by getting these animals
on the natural diets that they would be eating in the wild.
So she's been eating acorn,
she's been eating pecans, road kill, Juniper berries,
prickly pear fruit, prickly pear petals,
making her eat what she should be eating in Texas.
- NARRATOR: The bears must have liked the menu
because they put on some weight.
- RYAN: Gives them a better chance of survival.
- DR. RAMSEY: The big bear, she came in about 60 pounds,
went out at 128.
Yeah, right there Ty is probably good.
This little cub,
she came in at 30 pounds
and Miss Texas went out at a whopping 102 pounds.
- RYAN: All Right, she's ready to go.
[cage clanging]
She's free.
- DR. RAMSEY: Very healthy.
- RYAN: Good water, good food.
Good place to let her go.
- DR. RAMSEY: Next couple of days are really hard
for these bears.
They've gotta figure out where the other bears
in the territory are.
They've gotta figure out where the food bases are.
So they've got a lot of exploring
and a lot of learning to do.
And so they don't have to worry about eating.
[dramatic music]
- NARRATOR: While the bears pose little threat to people,
they can endanger one another.
So releases happen miles apart.
- This bear would just go turn around
and go kill that other bear in minutes, just by nature.
And so I really like to keep my adult bears away
from my younger bears to give 'em a better chance.
- This one? - Yeah.
- DR. RAMSEY: When you release an animal,
it came in because something was wrong.
It wasn't doing well.
She's just been sniffing and sniffing and sniffing.
- RYAN: Smelled like home.
- It's home.
It's totally dependent on me making it do perfect
so it can survive in the wild.
Did I do a good enough job?
Did I teach her well enough?
And unfortunately I'm not gonna know this for a while
until Ryan calls me one day and says she's
in a yard or we never ever hear about this bear again.
Then I did my job right.
- RYAN: Dr. Ramsey did an outstanding job
getting these bears ready for release.
- NARRATOR: And her fee for months of expert bear care,
nothing.
- It's been an honor for me to be the veterinarian
that gotta work with them.
Bring it to my door
and I will make an honest attempt to get that
animal back into the wild where it belongs.
Just watch her, she's pissy.
This bear is ready, ready to go.
- NARRATOR: It's a big day for a couple of bears,
for the people who care about them.
- DR. RAMSEY: Everybody ready?
- NARRATOR: And for West Texas wild.
- DR. RAMSEY: Look at her,
she's just gonna fall right out.
The joint effort between these two states
has been phenomenal.
And that's what allowed these two kids to go back
into the wild.
- RYAN: I am ecstatic.
I think she's gonna do quite well.
- DR. RAMSEY: I'm hoping big mama within a year
will raising her first baby big bear.
And we've increased the number here in Texas.