The group took the two-month-old black bear cub into its care on April 14 after campers found it alone in the Los Padres National Forest.
San Diego Humane Society Staff Wear Bear Costumes to Care for Baby Black Bear
Think you’re going above and beyond at work? Meet the team at the San Diego Humane Society, who are literally dressing up as bears to care for a tiny black bear cub.
The two-month-old cub, the youngest the organization has ever cared for, came into their care last month after being found weak, underweight, and alone in California’s Los Padres National Forest. Campers discovered the cub on April 12, and after unsuccessful attempts to reunite it with its mother, California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists transferred the bear to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center on April 14.
“Our team stepped in to give him the second chance he deserved,” the humane society shared on Instagram.
Now over a month into his stay, the cub is stable, playful, and thriving. “He was extremely fragile when he arrived,” said Autumn Welch, Wildlife Operations Manager at the Ramona center. “After several days without nutrition, it was touch-and-go at first. But now, he’s active, eating well, and steadily gaining weight.”
To prepare the cub for eventual release into the wild—expected to take up to a year—the staff take special measures to prevent him from bonding too closely with humans. One unique tactic: wearing bear costumes to mimic maternal behaviors. This helps the cub see his caretakers as other bears rather than people.
The bear receives four enrichment and feeding sessions daily, designed to build the skills he’ll need for life in the wild. The humane society notes that raising a bear from such a young age demands an extraordinary amount of time, expertise, and resources. Welch also pointed out how rare it is to encounter cubs this young without their mothers.
Videos shared on Instagram capture the cub climbing on a makeshift jungle gym and playing with a stuffed bear toy alongside staff—proof of the tender care he’s receiving.