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Mike Gappa, Wildlife Manager, Wisconsin DNR, has an opportunity. Two black bear cubs are orphaned and need assistance to survive. In the past these types of bears are raised in captivity, given to zoos, or even just dropped off in the woods in hopes they will survive. These bears are different, they will be raised to yearling age, and released back into natural habitat. The catch is; they will be radio collared and tracked to see what happens to black bears which are reintroduced to the wild. A long list of questions could be answered about reintroducing bears if this project succeeds.

The story begins at the prerelease meeting at Beaver Creek Reserve outside of Fall Creek, Wisconsin,where Gappa introduces Dan Mautz, the biologist who raised the bears for the last several months. Phase one, raise the bears in captivity.

The bears were brought to Mautz at the Makenzie Environmental Center near Poynette directly from the den site where they were found abandoned. The mother bear was injured by logging equipment and did not return. The new cubs needed care if they were to survive. All efforts were made not to imprint the bears with human contact. Special handling was used to keep a distance from the bears so they wouldn't associate humans with "food". Unlike two other yearlings which were released last year, these two bears would be kept as "wild" as possible. Last year's experiment ended with both of the bears dropping their collars, and one becoming a nuisance animal. This year everyone involved hopes for a different story to develop.

Mautz tells the students, teachers and press in the group the about the problems of raising bear cubs. They really have to work at not imprinting them. This past year these two bears were kept in an enclosure, shrouded with dark cloth so they would not be exposed to the unnatural environment of the Makenzie Center where they were being raised. However, they were still in a civilized environment; that was the unknown factor. They were bottle fed for a couple weeks when they first arrived. For a couple weeks the cubs were fed and then placed immediately back into the makeshift den. Shortly after that they began taking food out of a pan. When that happened, the staff did not have any need for close contact with the bears. Mautz says his focus is to not only try to avoid physical and feeding imprinting, but visual imprinting as well.

The bears reacted with apparent "fear" of humans during their captive period and Mautz hopes that reaction will continue so they adapt to their wild surroundings and avoid humans as most bears do.

Mike Gappa is asked several questions by the students who are going along on the release trip. Much of what is discussed is about last years project and the failed attempt to track those first two bears. Gappa's feeling is the collars were not on tight enough and the bears were too imprinted on humans. After they emerged from the den both bears found their way to human settlement in search of an easy meal of garbage or handouts. This year things should be different. Everyone receives instructions for the day and its off to the vehicles for the drive to the den site. Phase two, reintroducing the bears to the wild.

Several four wheel drive vehicles are needed to get the bears and the crew back to the den site. The crew includes teachers and three students from each of Augusta, Altoona, and Fall Creek High Schools, media crews, Makenzie Center personnel, Beaver Creek personnel and Gappa. The snow is deep and pushing trucks is the order of the morning. After blazing a trail through deep snow the bears and the people finally arrive at a site close to the den. The bears are still in the den box which they have called home since they arrived in the care of the DNR last spring. Awake and probably shaken up from the rough trip in, they peer curiously out of the box door as Gappa and Mautz open it and peer curiously in. Everyone in the group gets their first look at the newest inhabitants of the Eau Claire County Forest.

Gappa takes what looks like a tackle box from his truck and explains to the students, "this is my bear box, it has everything I need to work with bears in the field." After explaining about several of the items in the box he prepares a sedative which will relax the voluntary muscles of the bears. While still allowing the bears to maintain other bodily functions like breathing, heart beat etc.., the sedative will keep the bears "sleeping" long enough to prepare them and get them to the den site. After sedating both bears, the little male bear is removed from the box and laid on a blanket for examination. Gappa explains how to age bears using their teeth. He says, "there is no need to do that to these bears because we know how old they are, but with other bears in the field a tooth is removed and aged much like a tree. The tooth is cross-sectioned and annual rings are counted." The students are recording all the data on the bears for the project.

A student then helps put an ear tag on the bear for numerical identification. The tag will stay with the bear for its entire life. Then the students weigh the bear, 100 pounds on the money. Throughout this whole process the snap of cameras can be heard from the press and teachers who are along documenting the event. The bear is then collared and readied for the trip to the den. The same process is followed for the female, however she requires a second attempt with the sedative, Gappa says he hit fat on the first try, the drug needs to be injected into muscle to be effective. She weighs in at 45 pounds.

Both bears are now ready to be moved to the den site. The den site is approximately a quarter mile from where the bears are prepped. Students pull the sedated bears to the den on small plastic sleds. Through knee to thigh deep snow the students pull both bears to the den. The straw and vegetation, which lined the den box during the past months, are also brought along to line the new den. This will hopefully provide some familiarity when the bears awake.

Two students crawl into the den which was constructed from a large pine tree which uprooted and fell over. The roots still had many feet of soil attached to them forming a natural wind break. The tree trunk was covered with pine boughs to shelter the bears in what was now very much like a small cave. The students prepare the den by spreading the den materials out on the ground. Then its time for the new residents.

Both bears, still sedated, are brought one by one to the den. Two students are in the den to help position the bears. As the male is passed to the students one girl asks, " when will the sedative wear off?" Gappa replies, "any time now". Which is followed by the comment from the girl in the den, "I think he's waking up right now!" Without hesitation Gappa reaches into his hatband, removes the syringe and injects a booster dose into the bears hind leg muscle. The girls in the den are relieved and continue their work putting both bears together on the den materials.

As the girls emerge from the den everyone in the crowd is trying to get a good angle to see into the den and check on the bears. The job is done. Now its time to think about the job ahead, tracking and locating the bears throughout the rest of this season. Hopefully ending with locating them when they den again next winter, then returning to them and removing the radio collars. However, that is many months into the unpredictable future. The experiment has begun, the bears are home. The group makes its way back to the trucks with a sense of accomplishment. Time to start phase three, tracking the bears.