Thomas Owens has seen countless black bears during his time working as a State Trooper in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. New Hampshire is home to about 5,000 bears, and many call this forest home.
Owens knows that it’s best to not approach black bears, especially protective mama bears. But one day, Owens saw a little cub that was in big trouble, and he knew if he didn’t do something, the bear wasn’t going to make it.
Owens was sitting in his patrol car when he noticed a mama black bear and her four cubs crossing the road back and forth over and over again.
After watching for a while, Owens realized why the family kept crossing the road: one of the cubs kept falling behind, and his loving mom was trying to encourage him to keep up.
The tiny cub struggled to walk, and eventually, he decided to sit down in the middle of the road. The cub’s mom stayed with him for a few minutes, trying to get him to stand up. But the cub was too weak.
After a few minutes, the mama bear made a tough decision. She gathered the three healthy cubs and disappeared into the woods, leaving the sick cub behind.
Owens badly wanted to help the sick cub, and so he called New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife. As he waited for them to arrive, he stayed with the cub. He was taking a risk—if the mama bear came back, she wouldn’t be pleased to see him with her baby. But he knew he had to help the cub any way he could.
Fish and Wildlife came and took the baby bear to their rehab center. Owens accompanied them and took a cute photo with his new little friend at the rehab center.
The Fish and Wildlife also told Owens something shocking: the mama bear actually had five cubs!
The mama bear had abandoned her other cub earlier that day because he was also sickly. The Fish and Wildlife officials went looking for the abandoned cub, and luckily, they were able to find him before it was too late. The Fish and Wildlife officials brought the cub to the rehab center, where he joined his brother.
The bear siblings will stay at the rehab center until they’ve regained their strength and recovered from their illnesses. Then, they’ll rejoin their mother and siblings back in the wild. We’re sure their loving mom will be thrilled to have her whole family together again!
Trooper Owens and the Fish and Wildlife Officials did a great job looking after these little bears who badly needed help. We hope the bears get well soon!
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