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South Lake Tahoe couple adopts two orphaned cubs

Posted at 2:00 PM, Mar 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-31 15:12:55-04

A couple in Lake Tahoe took two orphaned bear cubs into their home after they were found in Yreka earlier this month.

The brothers are named Blazed and Yreka and weigh about 4.1 and 4.3 pounds, respectively.

The cubs were found two weeks ago and were taken to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care on March 12.

Posted by Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Inc. on Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Tom and Cheryl Millham have taken the two cubs into their home and are taking care of them.

The pair has rescued 100 bear cubs since they contracted with California Fish and Wildlife in 2000.

The Millhams said they know life in the wild for two orphaned cubs would be hard, and that life in their home would be too soft so they plan on releasing them when the time is just right.

“The main challenge we’re concerned with is we don’t want them to become habituated and relying on us,” Tom Millham said. “That’s why the only time we get them out is when we feed them.”

The cubs will grow throughout the year and the Millhams said they will be released into the wild in early 2020.

When they are released the Millhams estimate they could weight between 85 to 100 pounds.

They said they will be released within a 75-mile radius of where they were found.