Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/orphaned-bear-cubs-rehabilitation/

Mother bears are protective of their young, keeping them safe and fed as they learn the skills to survive on their own. Three black bear cubs in California were recently deprived of this motherly protection, as they’d been orphaned. However, a wildlife center is stepping in to make sure the cubs are safe, can learn the bear ropes, and that they’ll be ready to venture back into the wild when the time comes.

San Diego Humane Society says its Ramona Wildlife Center has welcomed two siblings and a third cub that were rescued by California Department of Fish and Wildlife crews. The 5-month-old siblings came from Valley of Falls in the San Bernardino Mountains. Their mother, who was conditioned to seek human food, was killed by a non-government employee as she tried to break into a cabin. The other cub was found near Lake Arrowhead, where its mother was believed to have been hit by a car.

The cubs lost their mothers at a critical time.

Andy Blue, campus director of the Ramona Wildlife Center, says, “Typically, the cubs would stay with their mother for about two years. Cubs can be weaned at six to eight months but remain with their mother to learn to hunt and forage. Without their mother to protect them, young cubs of this size can be predated by other bears, mountain lions, coyotes and other predators.”

The center is aiming to avoid that by allowing the cubs a safe space to hone their life skills and get their needed nutrition as they grow. After an initial quarantine period, they’ll also have plenty of access to their natural habitat’s plant life, including trees and shrubs. The goal is to eventually get them back into the wild.

Throughout the process, their contact with humans will be kept to a minimum so they don’t associate people with food or get too habituated with them.

To see the cubs, check out the Instagram video below.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog