Distressed Bear Cub Rescued from Plastic Container

On Monday, Pennsylvania Park Manager Sarah Lindgren, helped a distressed bear cub from suffocating to death. Lindgren was driving when she spotted the small black bear on the side of the road. She thought it was dead until she approached it and the cub moved. He had his head stuck inside a plastic container. 

Once she saw that the bear moved, she approached it and started pulling at the plastic container. After a few seconds, the container was off its head and the small bear looked relieved and confused. Lindgren talked to the cub afterwords, asking him if he was okay. She also told him “You’re welcome” and repeated if he was okay. After the bear was safe she told him to “Get going.”  

In the CNN interview, Sarah said that, “I highly doubt that it would have survived another day without intervention. It was very weak and dehydrated.” She believes that the distressed bear cub was around eight months old. After some time, the cub climbed a tree to recuperate from the ordeal. The park manager also stated that she looked around for mama bear but she was nowhere to be found. 

While mama was not around, the cub is old enough to survive on its own. Black bears usually leave the den by three months old and are fully weaned by seven months.  In Pennsylvania, there are estimated 18,000 black bears. Hopefully this little guy will get to grow and live out his adult life in the wilderness, without getting its head stuck in a container again. 

Lindgren would also like to note that she is used to wildlife and acted quickly because the bear was in serious danger. If you do see a bear in distress, please call the local state authorities. 

This is also a great example of why we should discard our trash properly.