An orphaned bear cub in San Diego is being cared for by costumed keepers and a giant stuffed teddy bear, to prevent him from bonding to humans.
The cub was about two months old when he was found weak, underweight and alone in Southern California’s Los Padres National Forest.
Biologists hoped that the baby’s mother would return, but she didn’t, and the cub could not fend for himself.
Since then, the baby bear has been cared for by the team at the San Diego Humane Society, who dress in fur coats, leather gloves and a bear mask. The biologists also mimic bear behaviours to prevent him from imprinting on humans.
The coats are even stored in bins with hay scented by black bears, so they won’t smell different.
A giant stuffed teddy bear, nicknamed Mama, has been placed in the corner of the cubs enclosure. The cub can be found running to Mama when he’s spooked, or snuggling up next to the teddy bear for a nap.
The tactics have been working, with keepers reporting that the tiny bear treats them like siblings, rambunctiously plays with them and happily accepts grass and fresh wildflowers to munch.
The hope is that the cub will be able to return to the wild next year, once he’s learned all the skills bears require such as finding food, seeking shelter, and avoiding people.
The youngster has recently learned to dig through soil for worms and insects, and other food is placed in tree branches for him to find on his own.
Team members were encouraged when they recently found the cub snoozing on a tree branch, a common behavior for bears in the wild.
His recovery has also been going well. He was emaciated when first found, only weighing 3lbs (1.4kg) . Now he has quadrupled in size to 12lbs (5.4kg).
The costumed-care technique is relatively new, so there’s no conclusive research on its effectiveness. However, it’s not the first instance of keepers dressing as the same animal they are caring for.
In New York, a baby king vulture was hand fed by keepers using a realistic bird puppet.
A video posted by Bronx Zoo in April shows the feeding in action, although the method was first used at the zoo over 40 years ago.
Video from Bronx Zoo shows a baby king vulture being fed by keepers using a bird puppet
Meanwhile, employees at a wildlife centre in Virginia donned a fox mask and rubber gloves to look after an orphaned kit who had found her way into their care.
The baby fox also had a large stuffed animal, meant to resemble her mother.
As for the Humane Society, they haven’t just kept to bears. Employees wearing coyote masks successfully raised three orphaned pups who have since been released into the wild.
They are also continuing to amass animal masks just in case, and are on the look out for a good skunk one.
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