Colorado Parks and Wildlife release two bear cubs after rehabilitation

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released two bear cubs that they rehabilitated after the cubs were orphaned.

CWP says that they took in the cubs in May. Luke Clancy, a wildlife officer in Durango, got a call one night that a landowner had shot a bear that charged him on his property.

When CPW arrived, they found the two orphaned cubs up a nearby tree. Clancy was able to trap them and get them to rehab.

When the cubs arrived at Frisco Creek, CPW says that they weighed only 15 pounds. With no injuries, they raised the cubs as "hands-off" as possible under the watch of facility manager Michael Sirochman. They were provided an appropriate diet and a 1/3 acre habitat for them to grow and learn.

According to CPW, in the summer, the bears enjoy a raspberry patch in the 1/3 acre enclosure that had some other natural forage and plenty of trees to climb. Their diet was supplemented with a feed that helps them pack on pounds before release. When loaded up for release, they weighed 105 pounds.

The rehab facility employees did not talk around the bear enclosure and operate so they were not seen. This way, CPW says the bears do not become habituated to being around humans. The only time they were directly handled was to place a GPS ear tag that will provide valuable data to CPW.

CPW Officer Luke Clancy picked up the cubs on Tuesday. They were then taken onto national forest land in southwest Colorado for their release where there are good denning spots and typically strong spring forage.

According to CPW, the bears were released in an aspen grove on a south-facing slope where there's no snow accumulation yet other than what snow fell yesterday. CPW says they'll have some time to find the right spot to den, and their natural instincts will serve them well.

Pictures of the cubs on their rehab journey are below courtesy of CPW.