I receive an email almost daily from a gentleman, Paul Cr, in northern Maine who is an incredible photographer caputuring all aspects of life in northern Maine both human and otherwise.  He sent out these photos from a trip he took with Maine's Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Department  biologists on a bear monitoring trip. According to Paul the  bears are wearing tracking devices and are tracked by air then the coordinates are given to the biologists who snowmobile/ snowshoe into where the dens are. They dig out the snow, tranqulize the bear, remove her and the cubs. They do a health exam, record the data and return the bears to the den. One bear they are monitoring is now 13 and had three cubs with her.  Maine's bear population is healthy and plentyful thanks to the great  job these guys do.

I'll let the pictures tell the story.