The call came from someone who thought they heard a bear cub crying.
That’s when the Conservation Officer Service of B.C. responded to an area of tall grass and thick underbrush in Port Alberni. It was indeed a cub in trouble.
“The cub had somehow wedged its leg into the crook of a tree and was unable to free itself,” conservation officers explained on social media Wednesday. “CO’s believe the cub had tried to climb the thin tree, slipped, and its leg became pinched between the trunks of two small trees.”
The mother bear was pacing around the area.
Wildlife officers tranquilized the cub while also hazing the sow just enough so the cub’s leg could be freed and its health checked.
“It’s not a call we get too often but a bear cub that found itself stuck in a tree had a little help from a CO to get free,” officials added.
They tagged the cub (it helps researchers understand bear behaviour) and left it a safe position so the sow could keep watch.
Call it a happy ending to a sticky situation.
