PITTSTOWN — Two infant bear cubs are recovering at the Woodlands Wildlife Refuge in Pittstown following an incident at Allamuchy State Park where the mother bear was killed by a deer hunter. The cubs, each weighing about one pound, were orphaned when the hunter stumbled onto a ground den. The female bear defended her cubs and the hunter defended himself, shooting the bear. Two cubs survived and another two were likely crushed during the altercation.

The cubs, both male, were taken to Woodlands Wildlife Refuge by a biologist from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. "Their condition was good because they weren't without mom for very long," said Tracy Leaver, Executive Director at the Refuge. "But we consider them in a critical stage at this moment as they transition."

One of the challenges in working with orphans is introducing a foreign substance when the cubs have been drinking the mothers milk. For the first two days the cubs were fed Pedialyte six to eight times per day. Following that, a formula that closely mimics the mother bear's milk is slowly introduced.

Leaver plans to care for the cubs until early March when she hopes to find a nursing bear in the wild to foster the cubs. This is something she has done in the past with success. "We're really looking forward to getting them right back out as soon as we can, with, you know, someone who can give them the ultimate care." "We think we're really good, but mom bears out there can do a better job than us."

Woodlands Wildlife Refuge is the only bear rehabilitation facility in New Jersey. They have been working with bears for the past 18 years and are approaching 100 bear releases including these two cubs. WWR is a local charity that receives no state or federal funding and relies completely on donations. Donations can be made on their website: www.woodlandswildlife.org

Andre Malok may be reached at amalok@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndreMalok. Find NJ.com on Facebook.