Orphaned bear cubs re-introduced into Lake Tahoe backcountry
Submitted by editor on Thu, 02/16/2017 - 9:35am
Nevada Department of Wildlife wardens successfully released four orphaned bear cubs into the Lake Tahoe back country on Wednesday.
Last April, an 18-year-old female bear with four cubs — two males and two females — died of unknown causes on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe. She left the cubs, weighing seven to 10 pounds, wondering where their next meal would come from.
Ten months later the orphaned cubs, after skillful rehabbing at the Animal Ark and hibernating through autumn, were released to the wild in their new dens, soon to be covered by the snows from this weekend’s storms. They weighed between 60 and 70 pounds when they were released. Emergence from the dens will most likely happen between the middle of March and the first week of April.
The cubs were tranquilized, blindfolded, and had cotton balls placed in their ears before being taken from Animal Ark by vehicle to the Nevada Division of Forestry facility on East Lake Boulevard in Washoe Valley. From there the cubs were flown by helicopter in pairs to their new denning sites.
The cubs were placed in two “Igloo” dog houses with straw (bedding material) from their Animal Ark dens placed inside for warmth, also, so it smells like home. Once the bears were placed inside the igloo dens, the enclosures were buried with snow.
The bears will emerge in the spring and be on their own as they try and “make a living” as wild bears. NDOW will fit the yearling bears with satellite collars in order to follow their movements over the next couple of years.
