Orphaned Bear Cub Rehabilitated by Staff Dressed as Bears

Bear Cub Rescue and Rehabilitation

• 🐻 An orphaned bear cub, found crying alone by campers, was brought to the San Diego Humane Society.
• 🍼 Initially, staff bottle-fed the fragile cub while wearing camouflage to avoid drawing human attention.

Human-to-Bear Disguise Strategy

• 🎭 To prepare the cub for the wild, employees began dressing in full bear costumes, including head masks, to mask their human scent and appearance.
• 🌿 They used hay and scents from a local sanctuary to further disguise themselves, aiming for the cub to perceive them as other bears.
• ⚠️ As the cub grew, they transitioned to masks allowing better depth perception, believing the disguise was effective in preventing the cub from becoming too attached to humans.

Preparing for the Wild

• 🍎 The rehabilitation included teaching the cub to eat from a bowl of mashed fruit and bugs and to forage for food independently.
• 🧸 If the cub interacted with the human 'bears', it was redirected to play with stuffed bears.
• 🌲 Staff acknowledge their deep care for the cub but remain focused on its eventual return to the wild, reminding themselves not to get too attached.