3-Month-Old Bear Cub Weighing 10 Pounds Found Abandoned In Ojai

OJAI (CBSLA.com) — An apparently abandoned bear cub found in Ventura County has been taken to Lake Tahoe, where she will be cared for during the winter before being released back into the wild.

The 3-month-old cub weighed just 10 pounds when she was brought into the Ojai Raptor Center by an employee of a nearby ranch, officials said. The cub had been seen without its mother for three days, but she was alert and otherwise healthy.

Large bear tracks were found in the area where the cub had been seen, but wardens say they did not see any evidence of a female sow in the area. Fish and Game officials concluded the cub had been abandoned and would not survive in the wild because she was so small.

Officials took the cub to the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas, where wildlife veterinarians determined the bear cub would be an excellent candidate for rehabilitation and release.

The cub was taken to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care Monday to be cared for over the winter. She will ultimately be released back into the wild, officials said.