Wholesome Wildlife Park Rescues Orphaned Bear Cubs, Spends Months Rehabilitating the Fuzzy Wuzzy Family, Leading To a Heartwarming Return to Their Furrever Home

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Dec 23, 2024 5:00 AM EST

Bears are probably a part of one of the most misunderstood, and mistreated, wild furry family we know. Despite sharing a lot of the wild with curious hoomans, those hoomans still have trouble finding their way in the wild without unfortunate interactions with these pawdorable bears. And that makes us feel sorry for these fuzzy friends, who just wish to be left to their own devices…

That is why, when we hear of stories of hoomans actively trying to help bears, we simply must share them. 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife have shared their experience with helping as many packs of bears as they can in their Rehabilitation Center. In the post down below, they explained about the process of getting bear cubs back on their feet (or paws), and what it takes to get them to return as quickly and efficiently to their rightful home – the wild. They recently said goodbye to five of these beautiful bear cubs, and the pictures they shared simply warmed our hooman hearts…

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    CO 10 Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango November 21. Tis the season - for rehabilitated bear cub releases! Yesterday outside Pagosa Springs, we released two sets of cubs (five total) in two different locations after the cubs spent the summer at our Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Del Norte. Frisco Creek had 25 bear cubs from around the state this summer from all regions, including seven from our area.
    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    Extreme care is taken at Frisco Creek by manager Michael Sirochman to keep these bears wild. There's no talking allowed near bear pens, and the bears never see a person feeding them. They get a feed diet as well as natural foods such as berries and de d fish from a hatchery. At the end of hyperphagia when the bears need to start winding down into torpor ahead for denning, their diet switches to high sugar and no protein. Durango's The Good Food Collective donated an entire truck bed full of appl
    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    The bears soon instinctively try to den at the rehab. They'll dig dens in the aspen grove pen or use sticks and hay bales to get cozy in den boxes. Once they do this and if they are over 60-70 pounds, they are good to release to go find their own natural dens ahead of winter. Two studies on orphaned black bear cubs rehabbed and released ahead of winter say bears on average make their own natural dens within 6 days of being released. Our own GPS data on previous releases shows the cubs will den
    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    together this winter before going their own ways in the spring. We pick locations where we have great success in not seeing the bears turn back up as conflict bears or roadk . Aspen groves are ideal, as they provide the forage bears like most when they first come out of dens in the spring. In both releases Wednesday, the cubs do exactly what we want: they bolt away and show their natural fear of humans.
    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    Of the 25 cubs rehabbed at Frisco Creek this year, eight have now been released following three earlier this week by our Northeast Region in Jefferson County. Eight more will go out next week, including some to Gunnison. Some aren't fat enough yet to go out for hard release, including two from our area. The cubs that remain at Frisco Creek will continue to eat before going into artificial den boxes to be released later in January or February. We
    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    like to get cubs over 80 pounds for release to give them an extra head start on getting through winter and the early spring months. A huge thank you to Sirochman and his family at Frisco Creek for the excellent care of these cubs. And thank you to District Wildlife Managers Doug Purcell and Nate Martinez for organizing the releases this week. Every year is different. We've had as few as four and as many as 40 cubs at the facility in one summer. The joy is felt by all when they return to the wild
    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango

  • Such an informative and wonderful post, that truly gives you a peak into the work that goes into helping these sweet souls get back to where they belong. Now, bear yourselves, as you are about to scroll through some heartwarming photos from the wonderful release.

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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango
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    via Colorado Parks and Wildlife - Durango

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wholesome Awwdorable wild animals heartwarming bears work park cubs bear cubs sweet wildlife story family rehabilitation animals wild rescue
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