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 ATLANTA, Idaho (AP) - Jabbed with tranquilizers, her ear pierced with a green ID tag, Twister traded her steel transport box for freedom after a bumpy 90-mile ride into central Idaho's mountains. The yearling black bear orphan stepped from an open cage onto a dusty truck bed, dropped softly to the ground and disappeared into the woods.
Twister was separated from her mother by a rare mountain tornado in June 2006. Raised at the Idaho Black Bear Rehabilitation Center in a Boise suburb, the 7-pound cub grew to 100 pounds on a diet of formula, apples and dog food. Twelve months after arriving at the center, she was ready for the wild.
"I didn't think she was going to survive," confessed Sally Maughan, founder of the bear rescue operation. "She couldn't stand on her own two legs."
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