Five orphaned bear cubs in Colorado are on their way to a much better life. After losing their moms and being kept in a rehabilitation facility for several months, these baby bears are at last free to roam the local wilderness,

When bear cubs are young, they need to be protected by their mothers for the first year before they can safely roam free. But in some situations when the sow gets removed from her cubs, the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has to intervene for the safety of the cubs.

The death of tiger cubs occurred despite veterinarian care in captivity. The captured tiger cubs succumbed to diseases on various dates from December 1 to 9 while the capture of tigress and her four were conducted from November 27 to November 30.

Nine months after they were first documented in the Upper Peninsula, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has verified another sighting that shows the two kittens alive with their mother.

The orphaned bear cubs will be released to the wild on Dec. 4, as Colorado Parks and Wildlife tracks their adaptation to prevent urban bear conflicts.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recently released 12 rehabilitated black bear cubs back to the wild, eight of them in the mountains where they were found, according to an Oct. 16 news release. The others were from the coastal region.