A bear hit by a vehicle east of Sudbury is showing signs of recovery after being rescued from a ditch where it lay for nearly a day. Mike McIntosh, founder and president of Bear with Us Centre for Bears, said he received a call Sunday afternoon about the bear. “She had been hit the night before, therefore lying in a ditch for nearly a day,” McIntosh wrote in a social media post Monday. Return to scene proved crucial Gloria Morissette, president and founder of the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre, told CTV News the bear was hit after dark, at about 7 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 7. Morissette said the pair had hoped the bear had run away, and when it hadn’t, they called Turtle Pond. She observed the grass where the bear had tried to manoeuvre but could clearly not stand or crawl. Since the bear was conscious and injured, Turtle Pond contacted McIntosh for assistance. McIntosh thanked them for returning, noting that if they had not come back to check, no one would have seen the bear lying in the long grass in a ditch next to the road. “It took me close to three hours to get to the scene,” said McIntosh. The bear sanctuary founder also credited Lee and Matt of Fowlers Construction for being available to show him where the bear was in the long grass. “The bear was moving slightly but basically unresponsive,” said McIntosh. Bear sedated, moved to transport cage After the adult female was carefully sedated, Lee and Matt helped McIntosh get her up to the side of the road and into a transport cage. McIntosh said that at the time, the bear’s prognosis was not looking good. McIntosh, in a brief phone interview, told CTV News he estimates her age at about 5 and explained she had been basically fully immobile for more than a day. “Her injuries at this point seem to be severe body bruising and trauma to her head and back,” McIntosh said. By Monday, however, she was more alert and able to sit up and stand for a brief moment, and her prognosis was much better, McIntosh said. McIntosh said a few more days are needed before they can know more about her road to recovery. They will need to rule out broken bones, and she may need X-rays. Another wildlife centre assisted at scene McIntosh also gave a shoutout to Gloria and Brian of the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre for attending the scene and calling him. Both Turtle Pond and Bear with Us are non-profit organizations that rely on donations to survive. The Bear with Us rehab and sanctuary is located in Sprucedale, Ont., while Turtle Pond is in the Hanmer community of Greater Sudbury. Anyone who comes upon an injured animal is urged to call a local rehab centre to figure out what they should do.
