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Just in time for the end of hibernation season, Alberta will now allow wildlife rehabilitation centres to take in orphaned black bear cubs.

A new policy announced Wednesday gives Fish and Wildlife officials the option of placing orphaned cubs under one year of age with an approved wildlife rehabilitation centre.

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Under a ban that had been in place since 2010, orphan bears have been euthanized or sent to zoos.

The government’s move was applauded by wildlife rescue advocates who had long called for the ban to be reversed.

“If a bear is orphaned tomorrow, we can receive them now,” said Lisa Dahlseide, education director at the Cochrane Ecological Institute.

“Yesterday, they would have been killed.”

Dahlseide estimates the change will likely mean five to 10 cubs being received at the Cochrane institute and other facilities across the province annually, though the province puts the number of orphan black bears between two and five yearly.