An 11-pound yearling bear that was found and rescued from a snowstorm on Ute Pass earlier this week has passed away.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife's (CPW) Twitter page, a bear - that was originally thought to be a cub - was rescued from a snowstorm on Ute Pass above Manitou Springs on Monday (May 3).

When CPW officers arrived on scene, the bear was near death from hypothermia. They immediately started warming the young bear and giving it fluids. The bear began to respond to treatment, which gave officers hope that it would survive.

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According to Michael Sirochman, a rehab expert with CPW and the Frisco Creek Wildlife Center manager, yearling bears are typically between 30 and 40 pounds; on Tuesday (May 4), officials discovered that the bear wasn’t a cub, but rather a starving yearling. The bear weighed 11 pounds.

“It’s the worst case of starvation in a bear I’ve ever seen,” Michael Sirochman, manager of the rehabilitation center, said on Twitter.

Wildlife officials worked to hydrate and warm the bear, but it didn’t survive the night. Officials tried to save the bear by giving it fluids, food and a blanket.

“She was very lethargic,” CPW Officer Cassidy English said in a video on Twitter. “She was out in the storm [last night], so she was very cold.”

“We saved three cubs last year,” Sirochman said. “But this bear was too far gone.”

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