Officials intervene to help seemingly abandoned bear cub in Maple Grove
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. -- Officials had to step in to help a possibly orphaned bear cub at a park reserve in the north metro this week.
The Three Rivers Park District said it had received reports of "a potentially orphaned bear cub" in Elm Creek Park Reserve and began monitoring the situation.
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The district said the cub's mother left it alone for more than three days, so officials intervened to provide aid. The cub will be taken to a licensed rehabilitation center in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources assisted with the rescue. The DNR said it does not believe there any other abandoned cubs in the park. The department also said there is no known connection between this cub and the bear euthanized in north Minneapolis last weekend.
Since the 1980s, Minnesota's bear population has been expanding farther south and west. Bears are most active in Minnesota between Easter and Thanksgiving.
The DNR collects data on the state's bear population. Click here to report a sighting.
