Two bear cubs captured after people separated them from mom

BILLINGS – Montana wildlife officials are reminding residents to leave young wildlife alone after people trying to take photos of two young bear cubs ended up separating them from their mother.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden Nick Taylor says the cubs and their mother were near the central Montana town of Harlowton over the weekend when people stopped to take pictures. At some point people chased the bears and got between the mother and her still-nursing cubs.

Wildlife officials captured the two cubs and held them for a day to try and locate the mother bear, but she had left the area.

Taylor told the Billings Gazette the cubs were taken to the FWP wildlife rehabilitation center in Helena. Center manager Lisa Rhodin says they will be cared for through the winter and released next spring.