When state wildlife officials euthanized “Blondie” the bear over the objections of local elected leaders in March, it was unclear if her two orphaned bear cubs would ever be able to live in the wild again.
The tiny furry creatures weighed just 5.8 and 7.6 pounds. They required spoon-feedings four times a day. And they could not be allowed to recognize humans, as this would hinder their development of survival skills.
But now the 4-month-old brothers have reached a promising stage in their journey toward independence, successfully transitioning into an outdoor habitat and starting to feed independently at the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center.
“Moving outside is a big step,” said Autumn Welch, wildlife operations manager at the Humane Society, in a statement Tuesday. “The cubs are gaining confidence, exploring and learning the skills they’ll need to survive on their own.”
The San Diego Humane Society is doing everything it can to mimic how the bears would grow up in the wild. Staff started out by wearing bear masks and animal furs, then crawling into the enclosure to spoon-feed the cubs formula. Now the cubs are feasting on solid foods and love fruits and leaves from native plants, and they’ll continue exploring the larger outdoor area as they grow more confident.
This news is welcome for the Angelenos who were devastated when the Department of Fish and Wildlife made the decision to kill Blondie, their mother, in March following two incidents where she swiped at local residents.
The swiftness with which Blondie was killed and the seeming lack of consideration for the fate of her offspring sparked outrage as, typically, cubs would remain close to their mother for the first 18 months of their life.
“The city was not a part of that conversation or decision [to euthanize],” Monrovia Mayor Becky Shevlin said in March. “We were absolutely devastated, especially when you think about her having the two little cubs.”
Fish and Wildlife, for its part, has stood behind its decision, stating that she had become too accustomed to people to be relocated into the forest and was likely to return, leading to more conflict with humans. Officials also said Blondie ran the risk of passing along patterns of depending on humans for food and shelter to her cubs.
But Blondie’s followers pointed out that this wasn’t her fault, noting that the onus is on residents to be responsible bear neighbors, sealing crawl spaces and trash cans to help prevent bears from developing a reliance on humans.
Her death inspired state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) to introduce Senate Bill 1135, which would mandate nonlethal solutions to human wildlife conflict. If passed, it would provide public education on mitigating negative encounters with wildlife, offer technical assistance to keep bears and wolves away from human habitat and maintain a statewide incident reporting system.
Monrovia resident Brian Gordon said Tuesday he was thankful to hear that Blondie’s two orphaned cubs are doing well and hopeful they can gain the important life lessons necessary for their release into the wild.
“Their lives have helped drive the momentum behind SB 1135, including public awareness of improvements needed within CDFW policies and transparency,” he said. “Blondie‘s legacy lives on through them, hopefully bringing the necessary changes that will help protect their future.”
