Photo: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources/Facebook
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources rescued a bear stuck in a culvert alongside a road near Wannaska after the animal got stuck there during hibernation.
“He tried to push himself out and kind ofgot wedged on some frozen waterthat had frozen and thawed, frozen and thawed and got stuck in place and tired,” Andy Tri, a bear biologist, told Inforum.
“… It took about five guys to haul him up and out of the hole once we dug him out,” Tri told Inforum, adding that the bear showed no signs of frostbite. “We just had to free his leg out of the hole of the culvert.”
“He clearly smelled like runoff — stinky, stagnant water — but generally speaking, I don’t think he was totally frozen in,” Tri continued. “I think he just got caught up in some of that thick ice where he pushed out and just hooked himself goofy.”
“We did a little chipping away out of the culvert and were able to roll him on his back and extract his leg,” he added. “There was a little bit of blood on the outside of the hole where he had been scraping trying to pull himself up, but (he was) no worse for wear and in real good shape.”
The DNR said on Facebook that they were able to relocate the bear to a state game sanctuary so the animal could resume his hibernation in peace.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources/Facebook
Somecriticized theMinnesota Department of Natural Resources on Facebook for taking several days to respond to calls about the stuck bear, according to theStar Tribune.
In response to the complaints, the agency stated that “it’s typically better for animals (and humans) when” humans resist intervening and added that in most cases, bears escape tight situations on their own.
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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is using this incident as a reminder to give wild animals their space, even in situations like this.
The agency recommends calling a wildlife professional if you spot a bear in distress, adding, “don’t try to move it or feed it! Doing so can result in a bad situation (either for you or for the bear).”
source: people.com
