Young bear found with broken legs along highway saved
A young bear is on the road to recovery after being found along the side of a highway in Parry Sound, suffering two broken front legs.
OPP constables Danielle Shank and Nicholas Villeneuve got the call and arrived to find the bear lying on the shoulder of the roadway.
"Originally, it wasn't moving too much, so we did a quick assessment and then noticed he was moving quite a bit. His head was moving around, and he was looking at us," Villeneuve said.
An injured bear is found lying along the shoulder of a highway in Parry Sound, Ont. on July 24, 2022. (Supplied)
The officers said the bear, thought to be roughly a year old, was in "pretty good shape" despite the broken limbs after being hit by a car.
The two constables waited with the yearling, directing traffic to keep him safe, while staff with Bear With Us, an animal rehabilitation centre, arrived to pick him up.
"The bear did show that it had quite a bit of life in it, so we managed with the help of the police officers to get it into a transport crate," said Mike McIntosh, Bear With Us president.
McIntosh said the young animal underwent a complicated surgery three days later "that required six hours of work to put these bear's legs back together."
A bear is in a rehabilitation centre after breaking both its front legs when it was hit by a car along a highway in Parry Sound in July 2022 (Supplied)
McIntosh credits the heroic actions of the officers and the veterinarian for saving the bear.
"The bear didn't have a chance if it wasn't for the consideration of the two Ontario police officers, to begin with, and then the expertise of this wildlife veterinarian."
The veterinarian will remove the pins from the bear's legs in three to four weeks to begin rehabilitation to help him walk again.
McIntosh hopes to be able to release him back into the wild sometime in October.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Italy's white-collar mafia is making a business killing
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
Spike in 'violent rhetoric' since Oct. 7 attack from 'extremist actors,' CSIS warns
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
Russia announces nuclear weapon drills after angry exchange with senior Western officials
Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine and Moscow warned that tensions with the West are deepening.
Summer forecast: What to expect as El Nino weakens
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army ordered some 100,000 Palestinians on Monday to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent and further complicating efforts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza.