Got Acorns? The San Diego Humane Society Needs Your Help

Bret and Veronica are joined by Wildlife Operations Manager, Autumn Welch, on how your extra fall fruits could help a pair of orphaned bear cubs.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There in need of acorns, per simmons and pomegranates. Help
be these growing little furry critters before winter sets in.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Joining us now on the Cogo News liveline is Wildlife
Operations Manager at the San Diego Humane Society, Autumn. Welch Autumn.
Thank you so much for joining us on a Friday,
and good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning, thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
It seems like a desperate situation if you're asking people
to donate acorns and per simmons and things like that.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Well, we have two cute little orphan bear cubs that
are at our rehab center. They're going to be in
care for a while, and this time of year is
the perfect time to share items that are seasonal, such
as the acorns that are falling from the oak trees,
per simmons, and pomegranate. Those seasonal fruits are ones that

(00:46):
they may find out in the wild and want a
munch on. So we thought maybe everyone would want to
get involved and start sending us some to share.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
With the bears.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
You know what's funny, Autumn, is when I first saw
this little note from you guys, I thought, what the
heck bears eating pomegranates and p semons. Well, because they're there,
this is the season that they're ripe, and just like us,
they take advantage of what Mother nature provides, and in
this case, so they can fatten up for winter.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
That is true. They are in a phenomenon called hyperphailia,
and that is this time of year where they eat
as much as they can so they can fatten up
for winter when they go into hibernation. So it's a
good time to give them a variety of foods that
they may come across in the wild and just help

(01:34):
put on some pounds so they can be ready for winter.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Tell us a little bit about the backstory. How do
these cubs become orphaned?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
So these cubs were found wandering in a neighborhood here
in southern California, and people notice that they were not
with their mom, and they were at an age where
they really should be sticking pretty close to mom, and
so people searched couldn't find her. We still don't know

(02:05):
what happened to her. So we work very closely with
our partners in the California Department Official Wildlife. So they
decided to get these bears and bring them to our
Wildlife center for rehab.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
So nice. Autumn. Welch, Wildlife Operations manager at the San
Diego Humane Societies, who we're talking about with today, because
we're asking everybody if you have some extra acorns percentage
pomegranates to donate them. Now, the question is autumn, how
do we get them to you?

Speaker 3 (02:35):
So the best way is to bring them directly to
us anytime between nine and five every day at our
Ramona Wildlife Center. We are on Highland Valley Road. Now
that's a little too far for folks to travel. We
do have several campuses with San Diego Humane Society in
San Diego, so I'm sure if you brought them to

(02:56):
your local campus, they can get them up to us
as well.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
And real quickly, what do you plan to do with
the cops? Will they be released back in the wild
or just be donated to I don't know, a zoo somewhere.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Our goal is to always try to release them back
to the wild, So we're watching them very carefully. We
stay as hands off as we can so that they
can keep those wild instincts, and usually bears are in
our care for almost a year, so generally they don't
get released till May or June of the next year.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
At welch from the San Diego Humane Society, Thank you
so much for joining us today.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Thank you so much for having me