Hikers hear howling from California water tank, find bear family trapped inside

On a late-August afternoon in the San Gabriel Mountains, a group of hikers near La Verne, California, heard an unsettling sound: what they described as “howling” coming from a large water tank along a trail. When they investigated, they discovered a mother black bear and her two cubs trapped inside the cistern, unable to climb out. Wildlife officials and fire crews responded, spending hours delicately extracting the bears and reuniting them before releasing the family back into the wild. The dramatic rescue, reported by local news outlets, underscores the dangers that human infrastructure can pose to wildlife in Southern California’s bear country.A strange sound on the trailThe incident began on August 28, 2026, in the hills above La Verne, a city at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.