Mother bear, 2 cubs spotted in Duarte, Bradbury not in good health

BRADBURY, Calif. (KABC) -- A mother bear and her two cubs that made an appearance in Duarte and Bradbury on Sunday were not in good health, officials with the Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

The bears made their way over fences and climbed up trees in residential neighborhoods. The trio was first spotted just before 8 a.m. in Duarte. Then, they moved over to a backyard in nearby Bradbury.

"It's nature, this is where we live. We live by the mountains, we see bears, we see a number of animals around here," said Bill Fugioka, who lives at the home.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife said the cubs appear to less than 3 months old and are underweight. Their mother also didn't look healthy.

"The mom's very small herself, I was actually kind of shocked to see how tiny she was, and her cubs were probably less than 10 pounds. So the issue is, she's not going to outrun them, she's going to stay with them. So they're going to run just a little bit, find a tree and take a nap," said Warden Ilia Banks.

Banks said the drought and recent heat wave are making it harder for bears to find food and water in the forest, so they're more likely to venture into residential areas.

"There's pools, there's orange trees, avocado trees, garbage, so a lot of these are already garbage bears, they teach it to their young and it's just a cycle that goes year after year," said Banks.

The mother bear and her cubs remained in a tree for several hours, until they climbed down and headed back to the forest around 4 p.m.