Bear cub discovered west of Temecula

De Luz couple says it's their first bear sighting

By NICOLE SACK - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:29 PM PDT ∞

DE LUZ ---- Diana and Paul Bein own numerous horses, dogs and peacocks and have encountered deer, bobcats, foxes and even a cougar on their property amid the chaparral-covered hills.

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But Tuesday night was a first when it comes to encounters of the furry kind, when two motorists brought an orphaned bear cub to the Bein home near De Luz Road and Via Vaquero at about 8 p.m.

"We've lived here for 27 years, and this is the first time we've ever seen a bear," said Diana Bein.

She said the two women who dropped the cub at their house encountered the animal as they drove along De Luz Road. She was told by the women that they thought the tiny bear was a lost puppy and that the animal was making a "tremendous noise" on the road.

As it turns out, wildlife officials say, the creature was a male black bear that weighed 5 pounds and is believed to be about 6 weeks old.

The Beins called the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, as well as their neighbors, to notify them there could be bears in the area.

"I just thought if there is a cub, there must be a Mama Bear around ---- and a Daddy Bear," Diana Bein said. "This bear didn't just sprout out of the ground."

However, wildlife officials who were caring for the bear Wednesday said the mother bear is most likely dead. Had Mama Bear been around, they say, her protective nature would not have permitted humans to approach the cub.

Paul Bein said that at first he wasn't sure what kind of animal was being held at his home.

"I thought it was a badger," he said. "But you can't hold a badger."

The little bear, which was dusty brown with a white chest, was stout and appeared healthy, according to the Beins. Though he looked like a stuffed teddy bear, the animal had already developed sharp claws and teeth.

While the Beins waited for law enforcement officials to arrive, the bear spent time both in a large dog cage and in the arms of some of the humans gathered at the home.

"All he wanted to do was cuddle into people's arms," Diana Bein said.

An hour and a half later, the bear was placed in a dog carrier bag ---- used by Beins for their Pomeranians ---- and began its journey south to the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona, which partners with the Humane Society.

Kim D'Amico, an animal technician with the wildlife center, drove to the U.S. Border Patrol Station on Interstate 15 on Tuesday night, where Riverside County sheriff's deputies handed off the cub to her.

Officials at the wildlife center said that while it is rare for a bear to be sighted in the region, there is a small black bear population south of Interstate 10.

"While the bulk of the bear population begins in the San Bernardino Mountains and continues north, there are a few ---- excuse the expression ---- in our neck of the woods," said Charles Traisi, manager of the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center. "There aren't a lot of them, though there are occasional sightings in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild. But the ones that are around here are doing all right; they're reproducing."

Arrangements are being made to take the cub to the state Department of Fish and Game's Wildlife Investigation Lab in Rancho Cordova near Sacramento, where the animal will be evaluated, Traisi said. If it is determined that the bear can live independently, it will be released into the wild. However, if the bear is found to be unable to fend for itself, it will be relocated to an animal sanctuary or zoo, wildlife officials said.

Traisi said he had been skeptical upon hearing that a bear had been found Tuesday evening in De Luz.

"There are so few bears in this part of the state, I starting running scenarios in my head of what other animal these citizens had found, which they were mistaking as a bear," he said. "But I couldn't think of any."

Traisi said that, while the chances are rare of people encountering a bear in Southern California, people should never approach one, even if it's a small cub.

Contact staff writer Nicole Sack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or nsack@californian.com.