Orphaned Bear Cub Released In Sierra Nevada

TRUCKEE (CBS / AP) -- An orphaned bear cub found last spring in a tree near Lake Tahoe has been released back to the wilderness.

The female cub was spotted in a tree last May near Carnelian Bay on Tahoe's north shore. When its mother didn't return, California Fish and Game biologists took the 16-pound, 4-month-old cub to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Earlier this week, biologists took the cub, now weighing 68 pounds, to a man-made den in the Tahoe National Forest north of Truckee.

The shelter is a collection of sticks balanced together in wigwam fashion. Inside there is a bed of evergreen branches.

Biologists say when the bear emerges in the spring, it should be able to fend for itself.

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