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Rescues helped a family of bears escape a water tank in La Verne in Southern California, firefighters said.
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The mother bear and three cubs fell into a cistern at Marshall Canyon County Park on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a Facebook post.
Hikers found the trapped bears at about 8 a.m., KABC reported.
“We climbed up top, and there’s a small hole and right away we see a bear staring at us, kind of holding on to the walls because it was full of water,” Jamie Kirk told the station.
“I just stuck my head in the hole. One was all tucked up on the top. There’s like a little pole. They were just scared to death,” hiker Tyler Christensen told KABC.
One of the three cubs escaped and was sitting in a nearby tree when rescuers arrived, The Riverside Press-Enterprise said.
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Firefighters and state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials drained the water from the tank, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
Firefighters widened a hole on top of the cistern and lowered a ladder. The mother and two remaining cubs climbed out.
A video posted by the department shows a cub clambering up the ladder and jumping off the water tank to the ground.
The bears left the area on their own after being rescued.
“I think the bears got very lucky because it would not be easy to hear that,” hiker Bradney Boli told KABC..
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La Verne is about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.