San Diego Humane Society

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How to Save a Bear Cub

Why did people put on costumes to help a struggling baby black bear? 

September 8, 2025
By Talia Cowen

As You Read, Think About: Why couldn’t the bear cub survive on its own?

What You Need to Know About Bears
Watch a video to learn more about all types of bears.

On April 12, campers in Los Padres National Forest in California heard the cries of an animal nearby. It was a male black bear cub that looked hungry and weak. He was about 2 months old and weighed only 3 pounds. 

Officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were called in to search for the cub’s mother. But she was nowhere to be found. 

Bear cubs depend entirely on their mothers for the first year of their lives. Mothers provide food for their babies and protect them from hungry predators, like mountain lions and coyotes. Without its mother, a cub might not survive in the wild. What would happen to this little bear? 

San Diego Humane Society

Workers wore bear masks and fur coats when they cared for Baby Bear.

An Unusual Plan

Luckily, wildlife officials sprang into action. They took the cub to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. There, experts could rehabilitate the cub, which they named Baby Bear. 

But caring for the cub came with a big challenge. The goal is for Baby Bear to eventually return to the wild, where he won’t be able to rely on humans. He’ll need to learn to live among other bears—and not get too attached to people. So the team made an unusual choice: They would pretend to be bears!

Whenever caretakers were around the cub, they wore bear masks, fur coats, and leather gloves. Instead of talking, they grunted and made bear noises. Also, to hide their human scent, they stored their disguises in bins with bear poop and hay that other bears had slept on. 

“We tried to look and act as much like bears as possible,” says Angela Hernandez-Cusick, who helped care for the cub. She says Baby Bear was unsure about his caretakers at first, but their disguises helped make him feel more comfortable.

San Diego Humane Society

A teddy bear gave the cub comfort.

Growing Stronger

The team at the wildlife center tried to make Baby Bear’s concrete enclosure feel as much like his forest home as possible. They filled it with plants and logs, as well as small trees so he could practice climbing. They also gave him pieces of wood and pine cones to play with. 

The cub’s caretakers fed him several times each day. At first, they gave him special formula from baby bottles. He later moved on to fruit and other solid foods. Over time, Baby Bear grew bigger and stronger. By late May, he weighed more than 12 pounds.

Hernandez-Cusick and her co-workers also helped the cub become more independent. They taught him the skills he would have learned from his mother, like how to forage, or search for food. They filled big bins with dirt for the cub to dig through to find the insects and plants that would be his next meal. They also hid acorns and other treats under branches and straw for him to sniff out. 

San Diego Humane Society

Formula from a bottle helped the cub grow.

On the Move

In June, Baby Bear was moved to the Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue to live with other bear cubs. Hernandez-Cusick is glad he’s getting the chance to learn from and bond with other bears. She hopes he’ll be ready to return to the wild one day soon. 

“Our biggest goal is to get him back out into the wild, where he belongs,” she says.

Get to Know Black Bears

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  • Adult black bears can grow to be 7 feet tall and weigh 600 pounds. They feast on everything from berries and roots to deer and elk.
  • Despite their size, black bears can sprint at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour. That’s faster than Olympic sprinters can run!
  • Black bears have a super sense of smell. They can sniff out food more than a mile away.
  • Not all black bears are black. In fact, they come in more colors than any other mammal in North America. Their fur can also be brown, blond, bluish gray, or white.

1. What steps did caretakers take to act like bears when caring for Baby Bear?

2. What is an enclosure? Based on the article, what was the purpose of Baby Bear’s enclosure?

3. What is one adjective you might use to describe a black bear’s diet? Explain your choice, using details from the article.

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