A pair of bear cub brothers orphaned after their mother was euthanized are now in the care of a San Diego County wildlife center.
The black bear cubs, estimated to be 2-3 months old, arrived at the San Diego Humane Society Ramona Wildlife Center in mid-March.
Their mother was euthanized by state wildlife officials after DNA testing confirmed she was involved in two separate incidents involving people in Los Angeles County.
The mother bear was known by Monrovia neighbors as Blondie and reportedly swiped at a woman walking her dog and scratched a man in a span of under a year.
Officials ultimately determined that Blondie was getting too comfortable with humans and posed a public safety threat, leading to her euthanization this March.
Her two cubs will now be raised by caretakers with the hopes of returning them to the wild once they are old enough.
“We don’t want them to associate with humans in any way if they are going to have a chance to survive in their natural habitat,” said Autumn Welch with the wildlife center.
The cubs will be raised at the San Diego Humane Society Ramona Wildlife Center.
Caretakers will limit the cubs’ human interactions, with the hopes that they will be returned to the wild when ready.
That means caretakers will dress as bears and use scents to hide their identity.
Ideally, the cubs will not get too comfortable around humans and will stay away from them once they are back in the wild.
The caretakers will make efforts to have the cubs avoid human interactions, including by having the caretakers dress as bears and use scents to hide their identity as humans.
This will help ensure the cubs avoid interactions with people when they’re older, keeping them away from neighborhoods and areas next to wildlands that people frequent, such as campsites and rural neighborhoods.