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The roughly 3-month-old brothers were taken in by the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center after their mother was euthanized for public safety reasons following multiple encounters with people, officials said.
Now, instead of cuddles and bottle-feeding from smiling staffers, the cubs are being raised by caretakers decked out in bear masks, fur and even animal scents — all to trick them into staying wild.
To avoid habituation, staff use bear masks, animal furs and scents to conceal their human identity during care according to the Times of San Diego.
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It’s basically a real-life bear cosplay operation.
The goal? Make sure these cubs don’t grow up thinking humans equal food — a deadly lesson that likely doomed their mom.
“Raising bear cubs from this young age requires an extraordinary amount of time, expertise and resources,” said Autumn Welch, wildlife operations manager at SDHS.
“We don’t want them to associate with humans in any way if they are going to have a chance to survive in their natural habitat.”
The cubs arrived at the facility on March 15 and are now under round-the-clock care, with handlers going to extreme lengths to keep interactions as natural — and anonymous — as possible.
“Situations like this underscore the importance of prevention and shared responsibility,” said Cort Klopping, an official with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
If all goes according to plan, the cubs will eventually be released back into the wild — hopefully with no clue that the “bears” who raised them ever walked on two legs.
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