Wildlife officials are crediting youngsters with eagle eyes for saving several orphaned black bear cubs in northern B.C.

One of the cubs was rescued late last month by 12-year-old Cash Kohorst, who feared the bear was on the brink of starvation.

And he's not alone.

Angelika Langen, who runs the Northern Lights Wildlife Society near Smithers, B.C., says the refuge has several orphaned bears who were spotted by young people who helped in their rescue.

"Young people...they're outside playing. They're observant. They're way more aware of the environment than us adults are," said Langen.

Kohorst was with his cousin when they spotted a scrawny cub halfway up a tree on his family's small farm near Quesnel.

'It just looked so hungry, like it was starving,' said Chase Kohorst, who rescued an orphaned bear cub. (Santania Grant/Contributed )

The boy's first thought was the mother bear must be nearby, because he's never seen a cub without its mother. He feared the sow might attack him to protect her cub.

But as the tiny cub started to follow him around, Kohorst realized the skinny animal with matted fur was all alone.

'Looked so hungry'

"It just looked so hungry, like it was starving to death," said Kohorst.

The boy kept a watchful eye on the bear. But at dusk, the orphaned cub disappeared.

"I figured it might have been gone for good, but I had a pretty good idea that it wasn't," said Kohorst.

A 12-year-old boy spotted this scrawny cub halfway up a tree near Quesnel. The bear was later determined to be an orphan. (Santania Grant/Contributed )

Kohorst alerted his parents who called in conservation officials. It took several days to lure the cub into a live trap.

Wildlife refuge for cub

A volunteer drove the starving animal to the wildlife refuge 500 kilometres away.

Northern Lights says the cub arrived weighing only half of what it needed to weigh to go into hibernation. And the cub's matted fur made it difficult to stay warm.

The new arrival is just one of many malnourished orphaned bears the refuge is caring for.

"These are cubs that have lost their mother awhile ago," said Langen. "The cubs are able to survive, but they haven't been able to get any body fat."

The Quesnel cub rescued by a 12 year old boy arrives at a northern wildlife refuge. The orphaned bear was just half the weight it needed to be for hibernation. (Northern Lights Wildlife Society/Contributed)

Langen said it's been "hair straight back" trying to help so many cubs recover.

But they are gaining weight, including the female cub — now nicknamed Rory — that Kohorst helped rescue.

'Observant' youth often spot orphaned cubs

"It's a pretty good feeling, knowing it's going to be fine," said Kohorst. "It wouldn't have made it, I don't think."

A cub orphaned in northern B.C. warms up with a hot water bottle at the Northern Lights Wildlifen refuge. (Northern Lights Wildlife Society/Contributed )

Langen says its impossible to know how these cubs were orphaned. But she says young bears left on their own can't find enough food to put weight on for hibernation.

She says once these cubs have gained weight, they'll be returned to the wild.