Whistler's business community has taken up the cause of Candy, the orphaned bear cub believed to have hitched a ride to Squamish aboard a garbage truck in December.
In mid-January, Home Hardware in Function Junction started selling floppy, stuffed bears to raise money to help pay for the care of Candy, the Whistler yearling cub who weighed just 23 pounds when she was brought to Critter Care in Langley after conservation officers trapped her in Squamish after her well-publicized ride just before Christmas.
Until at least mid-February, proceeds from the sale of the stuffed bears, which cost $15.99 for the smaller version or $29.99 for the larger one, will be donated to the not-for-profit Critter Care to help defray some of the $3,000 estimated cost to care for the bear until her expected release, probably in May or June.
Sylvia Dolson, executive director of the Whistler-based Get Bear Smart Society, said that by her count, $1,300 had been raised - $500 from her society, $400 through the efforts of Whistler resident Ed Zinkevich, $100 from Ucluelet Bear Aware, $200 so far from Home Hardware and another $100 from Dolson and her husband Steve.
Martin said Candy, who arrived at the centre at about the same time as another orphaned cub from the Lillooet area, appears to be doing well in her recovery.
The Lillooet bear weighed only 16 pounds when she arrived, Martin said. The two have been kept and cared for in the same enclosure and are getting along well, she said. Candy, she added, weighs about 60 pounds now.
