Three helpless brown bear cubs cry for their lost mother after their den was destroyed by tree-cutters in Russia in heartbreaking footage.
A heartwrenching clip shows the young cubs huddled together and wailing in a hallowed stump of a tree chopped down in the Leningrad region.
The bears were miraculously rescued hours before they froze to death in the cold Russian forest.
Footage shows the saved cubs being fed with a bottle amid concern they were on the point of starvation.
Three helpless brown bear cubs cry for their lost mother after their den was destroyed by tree-cutters in Russia in heartbreaking footage
But later they were plaintively crying for their missing mother after being taken to a bear shelter in Tver region.
The six-week-old orphan cubs were left in the den when their hibernating mother was woken by the noise of loggers cutting down nearby trees – and fled.
The female bear abandoned her three male cubs who were heard crying, too scared to return. Without her warmth, the littles ones can survive only a matter of hours.
Carers are minimising human contact and warmth with the bear cubs because the aim to eventually release them into the wild.
The young cubs huddled together and wailed in a hallowed stump of a tree chopped down in the Leningrad region
The saved cubs were fed with a bottle amid concern they were on the point of starvation
Wildlife expert Alexander Fedotov is shown in a video feeding the little wild animals on a gruelling 11 hour road journey to the shelter.
‘The cubs ate once every three-and-a-half hours,’ he said.
‘One had to be fed by force. He was sluggish, and obviously lagging behind in weight. I had to forcibly feed him, otherwise there was a chance that he would die.
‘The main task of the cubs at this age is to sleep, eat and sleep.’
He said: ‘A bear never returns to an abandoned den. They abandon their babies.
The bears were miraculously rescued hours before they froze to death in the cold Russian forest
The six-week-old orphan cubs were left in the den when their hibernating mother was woken by the noise of loggers cutting down nearby trees – and fled
‘These three were lucky that they were warming each other, otherwise they would not have survived. They would have frozen to death.’
The Tver sanctuary set up by bear expert Valentin Pazhetnov, 82, specialising in rehabilitating animals to the wild.
It comes after two bear cubs froze to death after their mother was woken up by ‘drunks’ who attacked the adult bear with a chain saw, forcing it to flee their den.
The cubs were found by hunting experts who were patrolling a forest in the Anuchinsky district in the Far East of Russia.
The young animals were abandoned by their mother who got scared off by a group of woodcutters.
Police have established the identities of the men who disturbed the bear, but not released their names.
The dead cubs (pictured) were found by hunting experts who were patrolling a forest in the Anuchinsky district in the Far East of Russia
An administrative investigation has been started.
It is not clear how many men were responsible for disturbing the animals.
One of the locals familiar with the case spoke to VladNews website and claimed that the woodcutters were drunk.
‘The guys got drunk after cutting logs and went for a walk about the woods,’ said the source.
Police have established the identities of the men who disturbed the bear, but not released their names. Pictured: A Himalayan bear in the Far East of Russia
‘They came across a den and thought it would be a great idea to wake up the bear.
‘They didn’t succeed at first, but then the mother bear woke up, got out and lashed aggressively at them.
‘The men defended themselves with a chainsaw, wounding the bear which fled the spot.’
The regional department for Wildlife Control, Protection and Regulation have said that the mother bear survived the encounter. Pictured: A Himalayan bear in the Far East of Russia
The Siberian Times was told by Dmitry Pankratov from the regional department for Wildlife Control, Protection and Regulation that the mother bear survived the encounter.
‘We confirm that these two cubs were abandoned by their mother who got scared by the woodcutters.
‘The mother bear is alive, but she never came back to the den’, he said.
It is not clear how many men were responsible for disturbing the animals. Pictured: A tree opened by a Himalayan bear searching for honey in the Far East of Russia