When we're losing animal species at a high rate, it's even worse when the animal is hunted
for human pleasures.
This brown bear's story may be heart-breaking, but there are still lots of good people in
the world who help us to hope that the future can be better for our endangered animals.
It is imperative that we work hard to take care of animals in our lives.
One way to do this is by making people care about them.
Today’s story is about what happened when one brown bear got stuck in a Hunter's vicious
bear trap!
One day an innocent brown bear was walking through the forest, near the village of Kosovo's,
Municipality of Suhareka.
When this bear stepped on a trap, he found himself unable to move.
It was too late for him to break free.
At least, as the bear tried his best, he realized that it could only get worse by staying where
he was.
The incident happened in June of 2016, as the bear struggles to break free from his
entrapment, the contraption only digs deeper into his leg.
An innocent wildlife animal, like the large brown bear doesn't know what's going on when
something like this happens.
But lucky for the bear, he might have a chance of surviving.
Recent hunting in the area has caused the brown bear's numbers to dramatically decrease.
The brown bear is not yet considered an endangered animal, but massive hunting like this is one
way that species are commonly wiped off the face of the earth.
Many do not know this, but the bear is also still a protected species in Serbia.
Although the species is not considered endangered, bear hunting was still outlawed by the government
in 2002.
However, bears like this are still considered useful and profitable, so hunting them continues.
They sell all the parts of the animal to various companies, so a large beast, like this is
very valuable.
But the hunters might not get what they set the trap for, as a different future lays ahead
for the bear.
Hunting of other animals isn't outlawed in Serbia, but it was pretty clear that a trap
like this was intended for the brown bear.
From the picture, you can see that it is a type of trap that is commonly used for bear
hunting.
It's a wire trap, tied to a tree close by that tightens around the bear and causes it
to dig deeper as the bear tries to free itself.
Traps like this don't kill the animal quickly, which is why they're so cruel.
If the animal hasn't died of infections, starvation, or pain, by the time the hunter gets there,
he'll finish the job.
It's not sure how long the bear had been laying there.
The hunters set many traps, so they don't always have the time to check them for catches
daily.
The bear was not having a very easy time in the trap.
He didn't have much shade around him, so he ran the risk of dying of dehydration or malnutrition
being trapped like a prisoner on a wire connected to the tree.
It was also unknown how long he might have actually been there, so there could have been
a chance that he had an infection.
Two police officers had been randomly walking around the area when they noticed the bear.
Despite their position, they didn't have the means necessary to save
the bear.
They decided to call people in the area, they believed to be the only ones who could help
the bear's dire situation.
You'll never believe what happened next!
The officers did not really know how they could possibly be of help to the bear as they
are not trained in caring for injured animals.
They decided that the sanctuary, which specialized in helping bears was what they needed to help
the animal.
So, they gave the sanctuary a call and they responded quickly to the scene.
The sanctuary has three years of experience as they were founded in 2013.
The sanctuary has an entire park dedicated to helping animals.
They're a home to a number of rescue bears, but this particular case was new to them and
they weren't sure if they were able to be the ones to help the situation.
The sanctuary hadn't really dealt with a brown bear before.
They normally just helped rescue bears saved from cruel environments.
The majority of the bears at the sanctuary are restaurant bears, bears that the owners
of diners would put in tiny cages in front of their business to attract visitors.
This wild guy is a different story.
The sanctuary isn't just known for saving rescue bears.
They also do their best to educate those in communities about bear preservation.
However, if anyone can save the bear, they believe they can do it.
Even with their help though, they don't know how long the bear has been there.
So there's a chance it might be too sick to save.
The sanctuary wasn't willing to just give up on the bear.
Their mission was to make sure that they save as many innocent animals as possible.
The people involved in this case were willing to do whatever it took to make sure that the
bear was able to make it back into the wild and have a long and happy life.
It was a challenge indeed for the rescue team.
Trying to work with a rescue bear is simple as the bears are more used to working and
being around people.
But an animal like this is terrified of what might happen to it as it is already pretty
stressed out.
However, the team thinks they have a solution to help the bear.
The team is able to use tranquilizers in order to safely and humanely sedate the animal.
This allows the team to easily work with the bear in order to do whatever they have to
do to get it back to good health.
When the bears passed out, they can examine the wound closely and figure out what they
need to do to save it.
Traps like the one the bear found itself in can be deadly for the gentle giant.
The wire cuts deep into the skin.
Only getting tighter as the animal tries to free itself.
If the animal does get loose, it risks dying, a slow and painful death from infection.
The traps are also dangerous as many other animals besides bears can find themselves
trapped in.
The bear also still runs the risk of having an infection.
After getting examined, cleaned up and disinfected by the team.
They have a vet come just to be sure he's okay.
After the vet checks him out, they discovered that the bear is actually okay after all.
They gave him medicine to prevent any long-term treatment and plan to put the bear in a safe
place to recover and grow back in the wild.
This was the team's first rescue of a wildlife mission and it was a great success.
They were able to quickly get to the scene of where the bear was hurt, clean him up nicely
and set him free back in the wild.
It was a risky mission as they weren't exactly sure what to do with the wild animal, but
they succeeded and were able to help.
Stories like these are what give us hope for the future of our endangered animals.
It's not just endangered or threatened animals that need our attention.
Make sure you look after all of your animals, not doing anything cruel like keeping them
in front of restaurants chained up.
Sanctuaries are very important in preserving and protecting the interests of innocent animals.
The bear risked a long, painful death from an infection if he didn't get treatment.
But instead, he got medical care at the sanctuary and lived a happy life.