Rare Black Bear Caught By Boar Trap Left Stuck Up Tree

Story ByJohn FengSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

Video Credit: AsiaWire / Tonghua Laoge

This is the heartbreaking moment a rare and vulnerable black bear is found stuck up a tree after it was caught in a boar trap and hoisted up some branches.

The fully grown Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is seen flailing its limbs while suspended in the air next to the tree in the village of Shuguang, which is in the town of Ermi in Tonghua City in China’s north-eastern province of Jilin.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire / Tonghua Laoge

The video filmed by local residents on 16th September shows the bear suspended in the air next to the tree, having been lifted off the ground by the metal trap wire wrapped around its body.

Villager Ms Zhang said residents who spotted the bear at just after 6am local time reported the discovery to the Tonghua Forestry Bureau.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire / Tonghua Laoge

Officers including veterinarians arrived with tranquillisers and subdued the panicking bear, which Ms Zhang claimed stood at nearly 6 feet tall and weighed roughly 200 pounds.

Footage of the rescue shows the bear having been brought down to the ground by rescuers, who dressed its wounds and brought it back to the nearest wildlife rescue station.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire / Tonghua Laoge

The authorities said the animal had not been seriously harmed and was later released back into the wild.

Ms Zhang said the trap the bear was caught in was meant for wild boar (Sus scrofa), which are also known as Eurasian wild pig.

She said villagers had never before seen an Asian black bear in the area.

The Chinese government lists the bear is as being part of a Class II state-protected species.

The killing or capture, as well as the selling of its related products are prohibited, and are punishable offences.

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