Orphaned bear named after Snowbird's Capt. Jennifer Casey

Photo: Facebook

The last of three orphaned bear cubs has been rescued.

The last of a trio of orphaned bear cubs has been rescued and will honour a fallen hero.

Affectionately known as the Tappen Triplets, the three cubs were live trapped near the Shuswap community and taken to the Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers.

“The last of the Tappen Triplets was finally caught and is on route to NLWS. It took 18 days to catch him/her. A huge thank you to all involved for not giving up. Dylan and Sumac will be happy to see their sibling again,” said a post on the group's Facebook page Monday.

The final bundle fur to be rescued has been given a name by residents of the area where it was trapped.

“The neighbours decided together to name him or her Casey after Captain Casey from Snowbirds,” said a Facebook post by one of the rescuers.

Cpt. Casey died in a tragic Snowbird accident Sunday in Kamloops, sending the nation once again into mourning.

Angelika Langen, who started the rescue society 30 years ago with her husband, said the bears will be reunited this week and will spend the next year at the facility with limited contact with humans.

“That is the amount of time they would spend with their mother and they need the protection she would offer,” said Langen of the timeline. “We are basically just stepping in and doing that for her.

The bears will then be returned to the same general area from which they were rescued.

“They always go back into their natural population, but obviously not where people are living,” she said.

The society has rescued 550 bears to date along with hundreds of other wild animals.