Tag Archives: Wild Bear Rescue

From a media release:

Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, B.C. is bursting with rambunctious cubs for Season 2 of Animal Planetâ€™s original Canadian series WILD BEAR RESCUE. Featuring 44 black bear cubs and a strong-willed grizzly prowling inside the rehab pens, Season 2 of the series premieres June 22, and airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on Animal Planet. Bristling with drama, humour, and irresistible cuteness, the 12-part series follows Angelika and Peter Langen and their family-run operation that rescues, raises, and rehabilitates the cubs for their safe return back into the wild.

In Season 2, Angelika and Peter Langen return with their daughter Tanja, son Michael, son-in-law Shawn, and an array of dedicated volunteers who work to provide medical care, housing, and food for wounded and orphaned animals across the region. Throughout the season, the Langen team offers essential treatment to bear cubs, as well as lynx, fawns, birds, moose, cougars, and other wildlife. With a record number of animals in need, and faced with an unforeseen housing crisis, the Langen family must pull together and work harder than ever to provide these animals with the rehabilitation and care they need in order to survive.

WILD BEAR RESCUE is produced by Omnifilm Entertainment in association with Animal Planet. Executive Producers are Gabriela Schonbach and Michael Chechik. Series producers are David Gullason and Brad Quenville.

Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Wild Bear Rescue examines rehabbing and raising bears on the west coast

June 22, 2017 Greg David

I’m a sucker for animals and pretty much any programming around them. I’ve watched many, many episodes of Hope for Wildlife, about Hope Swinimer’s non-profit wildlife rehab centre in Nova Scotia. Now there’s a new group being spotlit on the west coast thanks to Animal Planet.

Wild Bear Rescue, debuting Friday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Animal Planet, visits Northern Lights Shelter, a place that raises orphaned bear cubsâ€”and other wildlifeâ€”to give them a shot at survival. Begun in 1990 and designed to be an occasional refuge for injured animals,Â Angelika and Peter Langen’s passion project has grown. Now they’ve got 40 bear cubs rehabbing on their property, making them one of the largest in the world. There are, of course, challenges. With no government funding, the Langers rely on the charity of local supermarkets, private donations and passionate volunteers to make ends meet and Episode 1 outlines those challenges, both money and ursine, faced at Northern Lights Shelter.

“A Cub with a Kick,” the first of 12 episodes, introduces viewers to the Langers and their team before gettingÂ right to the drama when a young female bear is brought in after being hit by a car. Omnifilm Entertainment, the show’s producers, did an excellent job ramping up the drama for six seasons of Ice Pilots NWT and do the same thing here, leaving viewers in suspense regarding the overnight fate of their newest arrival and whether a newborn fawn will feed.

If you’re like me and enjoy programs about animals, Wild Bear Rescue will be right up your alley. And if you’d like to, Northern Lights is always looking for volunteers and donations.

Wild Bear Rescue airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Animal Planet.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Omnifilm Entertainment begins production on Wild Bear Rescue

July 25, 2016 Greg David

From a media release:

Omnifilm Entertainment is pleased to announce the start of production on a new documentary series for Animal Planet, Wild Bear Rescue. The 12 x 30 series follows a northern B.C. family that runs the only animal shelter in the world legally allowed to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned grizzly bear cubs.

The series, set in Smithers, British Columbia, features shelter manager Angelika Langen, her husband Peter Langen, their two adult children, and volunteers as they work around the clock to rescue bears and other wildlife in distress.

If a call comes in that a car has hit a mother grizzly, a hunter has killed a black bear with four tiny cubs, or a young bear has fallen out of a tree, the team at the shelter drops everything and rushes to the rescue. Once on the scene, Angelika will track, capture, and tranquilize the cub(s). If the cub isnâ€™t doing well, she might have to take it to the vet. Next stop: the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter.

Michael Chechik and Omnifilm partner Gabriela Schonbach are executive producing Wild Bear Rescue with David Gullason, who show-ran six seasons of the award-winning series Ice Pilots for History, and is currently executive producing season three of Jade Fever for Discovery. Series Producer Brad Quenville, who has written and directed numerous projects for Omnifilm including CBCâ€™s The Dolphin Dealer, is directing and writing.

The project is being structured as a Canadian production but will be pitched internationally in the coming months. Wild Bear Rescue is slated to air in 2017 on Animal Planet in Canada. Edwina Follows and Heather Williamson serve as executive producers for Animal Planet.

Image courtesy of Northern Lights Animal Shelter