The San Diego County Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center received another black bear cub last month following the series of storms that hit California.
The orphaned female California black bear cub is approximately 10 months old and was rescued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in Bakersfield on Dec.18, 2022. She was brought to the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care for rehabilitation before transferring to the San Diego Humane Society on Jan.26.
According to SDHS officials, biologists assessed the cub and found her thin and abandoned. Officials said there has been an “unusual number” of orphaned bear cubs found late last year and early this year.
The organization said it is possible for the flooding of dens to have caused cubs to be separated from their mothers.
The female cub will be housed with a black male cub who arrives from Bishop, CA, in a pre-release enclosure outdoors, with access to trees, shrubs, and natural substrate, according to the SDHS. Wildlife experts say the cubs exhibit more natural behaviors when housed with others their same age.
“As soon as they are strong and healthy enough, we want to return them to the wild.” said Andy Blue, campus director of San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center “The next few months will be crucial, because we don’t want these cubs to get comfortable around humans, so our team will be very careful to ensure their stay with us mimics life in the wild.”
There are now a total of five California black bear cubs at the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. Three cubs arrived separately last July and will be released back into the wild next spring.
