Autumn Welch dons a fur coat, leather gloves, and a bear mask for her latest role, while caring for a 12-pound black bear cub, affectionately named Turnip, whom she aims to treat like family.
The orphaned Turnip was roughly two months old when it was found on April 12 in the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. Since that day, Baby Bear has been nurtured by Welch’s team at the San Diego Humane Society in interactions designed to replicate family dynamics. The ultimate goal is to reintroduce Turnip to the wild.
This photo provided by the San Diego Humane Society shows a bear cub found alone in the Los Padres National Forest on April 14, 2025 in Ramona, California (via the AP of the San Diego Humane Society).
The bear costume is designed to prevent the rescued cub from associating with humans. The fur coat is kept in a box infused with hay scent. The team experimented with multiple masks until they found the perfect fit.
“Mama” is a large plush teddy bear propped in a corner of the Humane Society’s 13-acre (5 hectares) Ramona Wildlife Center near San Diego. Welch stated that’s where the cub retreats when scared or in need of a cozy spot to nap.
“He probably really misses his real mom,” Welch remarked.
When a caregiver in costume approaches, the cub perceives them as siblings, engaging in play and happily accepting grass and fresh wildflowers.
Recent milestones include the cub learning to dig for insects in the soil. Various foods have been strategically placed on tree branches for him to forage. Staff members were thrilled to discover that Turnip had snoozed in tree branches, a typical bear behavior.
“He’s very perceptive. He always interacts with his surroundings,” Welch added.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife tried to reunite Turnip with his mother after a camper found him. They returned the young bear to the wild overnight, but took him back when she failed to appear. The frail 3-pound (1.3 kg) cub was then brought to the Ramona Wildlife Center.
Since then, Turnip has quadrupled in size.
Biologists are hopeful that if he can learn to forage, find shelter, and avoid human contact, he can be safely returned to the wild next year.
Turnip is the fourth cub in California to receive rehabilitative care in the last five years. If another cub arrives, he could be paired with a companion.
Virginia has employed staff at the Richmond Wildlife Center last year, demonstrating a similar approach. He mimicked a mother fox to care for orphaned kits.. In the footage, a caregiver donned a red fox mask and rubber gloves to feed the small creature through a syringe. Much like Turnip and his teddy bear, the kits rested on a large plush fox designed to resemble their mother.
Welch mentioned that this innovative costumed care method is relatively recent, and there is no definitive research yet on its effectiveness. However, in Ramona, Humane Society staff donned coyote masks to raise three orphaned pups who were later released back into their natural habitat.
The humane society is also stockpiling animal masks in anticipation of future needs.
“We still haven’t found a suitable skunk mask,” Welch noted.
Source: apnews.com