Bear and three cubs found in water tank in California

In La Verne, California, a mother bear and her three cubs became trapped inside a large water storage reservoir. The incident occurred on Saturday.

When rescuers arrived, the bears had been trapped inside the dark concrete structure for over 12 hours. They likely fell in through a one-foot-wide hole at the top of the reservoir while searching for water in the hot and humid weather.

The bears were spotted around 8:00 a.m. by Eric Macdonald and Jamie Kirk from Glendora. They climbed to the top of the reservoir and saw the mother bear clinging to the wall in the water through a small hole.

Rescuers launched an operation dubbed "Operation Care Bear." First, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife drained the water from the reservoir to eliminate the risk of the bears drowning.

However, the existing hole was not large enough for rescuers to enter or for the mother bear to exit. Therefore, specialists used an electric saw to cut a larger hole in the side of the reservoir and lowered a ladder to create an exit path for the bears.

While one of the cubs had managed to climb out on its own earlier, it took rescuers a bit more time and effort to get the remaining three bears out.

Ultimately, the mother bear and her cubs were safely removed from the reservoir.