We should also remember not to judge mothers. It would be easy to view the mother of the cubs as cowardly, or cruel, but we can't apply human standards to animals. Earlier on, we talked about primal instinct, and primal instinct is a very powerful thing.
If you ever find yourself in a survival situation, you might be surprised what your instincts tell you to do. We don't think she stopped loving her cubs for a single moment. She just did her best to stay alive.