Two orphaned black bears have been released into the wild, ending their nearly year-long rehabilitation at the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center, officials say.
The bear brothers were rescued last July by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after their mother died in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was determined that the two 5-month-old cubs, who were too small, could not survive on their own.
On May 15, after spending nearly a year at the Ramona Wildlife Center, the bears were released near where they were originally found.
“It’s a tricky skill to breed wild bears in captivity,” said Andy Blue, director of the campus wildlife center. “Bears eat over 10 pounds of food per day, so making sure they are fed without our staff ever being seen and that they have enough enrichment to exhibit their natural behaviors without leaving human odors behind them, requires careful planning.”
The bears’ journey back to their original habitat began shortly after state authorities captured the malnourished cubs and brought them to Ramona. One bear weighed 12 pounds and the other weighed 15 pounds — the typical weight for a male black bear that age is 25 pounds, Blue said.
Veterinarians examine a black bear before it is released into the wild.
(Humane Society of San Diego)
“In the wild, they would have been preyed upon by other bears, coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats,” Blue said. “They were… about the smallest I’ve seen come through our facilities.”
The bears were taken to the animal hospital for treatment and feeding. Once specialists felt comfortable with the cubs’ recovery, the brothers were placed together in a large enclosure mimicking their natural environment with native plants, officials said.
The enclosure allowed the bears to learn to forage and eat a mixture of foods daily, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, peanut butter and bear food. An Escondido family also donated a 467-pound home-grown pumpkin to the wildlife center for bears to play with and eat inside their enclosure.
The center’s veterinarians also worked to reduce contact with bears as much as possible so that wild animals do not become accustomed to humans.
“We don’t want them to associate with something like a van that pulls up and has food in the back,” Blue said. “So we have to be very creative, even with remote feeders that spread the food throughout the enclosure.”
A black bear runs through the cover of the trees.
(Humane Society of San Diego)
During their rehabilitation, the bears have gained approximately 80 pounds and are on their way to reaching their maximum size of more than 400 pounds.
Then, after veterinarians gave them a clean bill of health, the bears were microchipped, fitted with GPS collars and released into the wild earlier this month.
The wildlife center sees about 1,000 patients a year, including six more cubs in 2022 and a 3-month-old mountain lion cub earlier this year.
“These are very rewarding cases,” Blue said. “They came to us as orphans and we devoted a huge amount of effort and resources to their development. It’s a great feeling to release them into the wild.
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