It's like raising two-year-olds! Couple show off adorable cubs they adopted after mother bear rejected them at zoo

WISCONSIN -- A Wisconsin couple have their hands full caring for two new additions to their family, after they adopted twin bear cubs that had been rejected by their mother.

David and Lana Fechter, who run a wildlife reserve on their West Bend property, took in the male cubs from a Chicago zoo.

 

And while they are small and adorably cute, the couple say the nine-week-old Siberian bear cubs are keeping them on their toes.

At the moment the cubs are in an inside enclosure, and are being bottle fed, but when they are a bit bigger they will live on the Shalom Wildlife reserve.

The inquisitive bears have been named Lewis and Clark after the first explorers to venture into the unchartered West.

'They're like a 2-year-old where they get into everything,' Mr Fechter told WISN, adding that they needed a lot of attention.

'They're already starting to get their own personalities, and we need to respect them,' he added.

The cubs, who could grow to be 1,000lb, will be given a large natural enclosure to live in, as soon as they become more independent.

'We are going to build a huge environment for them. It will be a two-acre pen with a pond and ridges,' Mr Fechter said.

He and his wife have been running the Shalom reserve after buying a parcel of land about an hour from Milwaukee to preserve it.

The 100-acre reserve has three miles of trails that visitors can hike through, or drive golf buggies on, to view elk, wolves, bison and other species in a more natural environment.

With more than 200 native animals on show, the park has kept to its founding philosophy from when it started in 1979: 'To preserve the prairies, wetlands, forest, lake habitat and the wildness, while providing enjoyment and education.'

The park opens in May, just in time for its baby boom. For those who can't wait, Lewis and Clark are regularly featured on the reserve's Facebook page.

(Daily Mail - Mar 28, 2014)