Good news bear stories may be hard to come by, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Earlier this week when Nova Scotia resident Mike Knocton was driving in the province’s Antigonish County, he spotted a bear lying in the middle of the road.
Assuming the bear was roadkill, he stopped to move it to the side of the road. But when he reached for it, the bear picked up its head. With that, he left the bear alone—at least for the next few hours.
When he returned and the bear still hadn’t moved, he decided to move it inside a large dog kennel, take it home, and call the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. DNR officers then brought the bear to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park.
While it’s not usually wise to deal with bear encounters on your own, this bear was clearly in need of help, says Knocton.
“If we could give him a second chance at life, well then I was going to do all we could for him,” he told CTV.
When the bear arrived at the wildlife park, he was very weak and in poor condition, said wildlife interpreter Stephanie Patrquin. In fact, she claimed the bear was too weak to be anesthetized for X-rays, so they had to monitor the animal for days to ensure there were no broken bones.
The bear is believed to have been struck by a car, but it is on its way to full recovery. Wildlife officials are hoping to release it back into the forest over the next couple of weeks.