Newborn bear cub siblings find a new home in North Carolina. See the adorable photos
Two newborn bear cubs are settling in at their new home in North Carolina.
Photos show the adorable black bears — a baby brother and sister — snuggling and being fed at the N.C. Zoo Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
The bears were taken in from the North Carolina mountains and are about 6 to 7 weeks old. Officials don’t know what happened to their mom but said they believe she died or got separated from them during a logging operation.
In their next chapter, the cubs will be learning skills to live in the wild. The cubs are considered healthy and could be at the rehab center through the fall, spokesperson Debbie Fuchs told McClatchy News in a March 25 email.
“The cubs will stay at the rehab center for several months until they are old enough to be released back into the wild,” the wildlife center wrote in a Facebook post.
Black bears are found in the eastern and western parts of North Carolina. The animals are born weighing about 1 pound and “usually stay with their mother through their first two winters,” the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said on its website.
As adults, experts say females can weigh up to 300 pounds and males can grow to 700 pounds on average.
The N.C. Zoo is in Asheboro, roughly 70 miles west of Raleigh.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Newborn bear cub siblings find a new home in North Carolina. See the adorable photos."
