We thought you would like to see some of the many steps that make up a successful release.  It isn’t a simple process!

The night before the release day, the four cubs were lured into the Cub House.  Here they are, eating the goodies that were used to tempt them.

Four cubs the night before their release.

The cubs were immobilized one at a time. and transferred to the workup area.

First cub ready to be worked up.

First part of the workup process is the weighing of the cub.

The cub is weighed.

Checkups follow.

Temperature and heart rate are measured.

Teeth and mouth are checked.

Ear tags are applied.

A lip tattoo is applied for I.D. purposes.

Paws are measured.

Size of cub paw.

For the first time, the cubs are fitted with GPS collars before their release.  The collars will enable Curator Coy to follow them and learn where they go after release.

GPS collar is attached.

When all the data has been collected and recorded, the cub is placed into a carrier and loaded on a truck for the ride to a new home in the wild.

Cub is ready to go to the truck.

In recent photos of these cubs, they appeared to be quite large, but when compared with the size of humans, we can see that they still are very small.  When all four cubs are on the truck, it’s time to go!

Sola Bear wakes up and peeks out

Marvin Bear is awake, too.

The trucks drive away, taking our four cubs to their second chance in the wild.

Goodbye, cubs! Good luck in your new home.

Curators Coy and Janet pose with a stuffed bear friend.  They are tired but happy and can take pride in a job well done.  Of course, they still have 18 more cubs still at ABR, so their work is not over yet!

Curators Coy and Janet.

We will continue to follow the progress of the rest of the cubs.  Undoubtedly some of them will be released very soon.