EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — The last couple of days have been busy for Colorado Parks & Wildlife as they put two orphaned bears into an artificial den Friday and rescued an owl on Monday.
The artificial den is up on Pikes Peak. Their officers took great care to ensure the cubs would survive in the wild, CPW said.
The bears will spend the winter in the den and emerge as wild bears in the spring, CPW said.
CPW said Colorado State University helped capture one of the cubs from a high tree and helped make sure there was a secure location for the den.
Biologists hope the heavy snow this weekend convinced the cubs to stay in their new home.
The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo supplied GPS transmitters for the cubs. They said this will help them collect important data to inform future bear research.
On Monday, Deme McDowell with CPW captured an injured owl that was trying to outrun her in Colorado Springs.
CPW said the owl had uneven pupils, which is an indicator of possible head trauma. They said the owl had an injury to one of its wings, which is why the owl ran from McDowell instead of flying away.
With the rescue wrapped up, CPW Officer Deme McDowell brought the owl into the office so it could be driven to the nonprofit Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center's raptor facility in Pueblo for rehabilitation. 3/3 pic.twitter.com/MhZUkCPdch
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) February 5, 2024
The owl will be taken to the Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center's raptor facility in Pueblo for rehabilitation, according to CPW.