MOULTONBOROUGH — New Hampshire Fish and Game officers are searching for two young bear cubs that were orphaned when their mother was killed on Route 25 by a car last week near the Center Harbor/Moultonborough town line.

N.H. Fish and Game Department bear project leader Andrew Timmons said anyone who sees the cubs should not try to grab them, but instead call 271-2461 to report the sighting. The cubs are estimated to weigh 8 to 10 pounds each and were likely born at the end of January or February, he said. Currently, the cubs are at the size they should be, Timmons said, but still at an age they are depending upon nursing on mom. “These young cubs will have a tough time,” he said.

Timmons said the cubs were seen Saturday near the Meredith Village Savings Bank in Center Harbor, but they had wandered off before Fish and Game officers arrived. More calls of sightings came in Monday on Glidden Road.

The sightings seem to be along the Center Harbor/Moultonborough town line near where the mom, or sow, was killed.

“They are at a young age and they need some assistance. If this was late summer, we would probably not take action,” said Timmons. Cubs can be caught either one of two ways, either with a safe trap with food in it, or by getting them to climb up a tree that an officer can climb up to retrieve them.

Timmons said if the cubs are captured, they will likely be sent to independent wildlife biologist and bear specialist Ben Kilham in Lyme for rehabilitation.

Moultonborough Police Chief Leonard Wetherbee said no injuries were reported in the accident that killed the sow, and that the driver was gone upon arrival. Sgt. Peter Beede responded to the report of the dead bear at 4:13 p.m. May 16.