Bears are born in a den over winter and stay with their mother for 1-2 years. When cubs are orphaned the summer after first den emergence, the UDWR contracts with USDA and Utah State University to care for the bears until they are old enough for release back into the wild by UDWR. Sometime in the fall they will be released in order to explore and find a den for the winter. The USDA-Wildlife Services-Predator Research Facility has been successfully rehabilitating and releasing bears back into the wild for several years and learning about bear behavior pre: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-018-0541-4,

and post: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_usdanwrc/2216/ release in the process. This year, there are two orphaned cubs at the facility.

