Orphaned bear cub wanders Colorado property with mom nowhere in sight. See the rescue
A tiny bear cub wandered a Colorado property all alone with its mom nowhere in sight in late June — too early in the year for cubs to be on their own, officials said.
Realizing the cub was most likely orphaned, the homeowner called wildlife officials to facilitate a rescue, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northeast Region said Nov. 20 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Video shows the small cub wandering through the homeowner’s yard in Jefferson County and running in a nearby field, likely scavenging for something to eat.
“You’re tiny,” the homeowner says in the video. “Where’s your momma?”
A wildlife officer set a live trap “with a special concoction of treats to lure in the cub,” the agency said.
“The recipe is a mix of peanut butter, honey, caramel, and eggs. And it worked!” officials said.
Video shows the cub snacking on the irresistible treats inside the trap.
Wildlife officers took the orphaned cub to a rehabilitation facility in Del Norte in southwestern Colorado, where “staff go through great pains to make sure bears don’t see or interact with humans to keep them as wild as possible,” officials said.
“We don’t want rehabbed bears associating humans with food,” the agency explained.
A photo shows the bear checking out an enclosure at the facility.
“Then on Monday, in secluded bear habitat in (Jefferson County), it’s time to release the cub into the wild so it has time to build a den for hibernation/torpor,” officials said. “We release two other orphaned, rehabbed bear cubs at the same time. The door opens and all three cubs make a run for it!”
Video shows three fluffy cubs taking off up a mountain as officials celebrate off camera. A photo shows the cubs looking down at wildlife officials through the dense trees.
“It’s a great, full circle moment which can only happen thanks to the officers, rehabbers, and the landowner who gave us a call,” the agency said.
Jefferson County is about a 30-mile drive southwest from Denver.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Orphaned bear cub wanders Colorado property with mom nowhere in sight. See the rescue."
