from thefreeonline on 15th Sept 2023 via Fundación Oso Pardo and Stigmatis
A brown bear was looking for food in a plastic barrel when its head became trapped and it was unable to free itself, putting it in peril of dehydration, starvation, accident…
This happened last Wednesday, September 13, early in the morning. The notice of the event was fortunately given by an individual, who contacted the Brown Bear Foundation.
The population of brown bears in Spain has been recovering little by little. In the 90s, there were areas of the peninsula where they were on the verge of disappearing, such as in the Pyrenees.
Its recovery has not been easy and has required joint collaboration between citizens and conservation organizations, such as the Oso Pardo Foundation.
Companies who release unattended herds of sheep and horses in summer in the mountains strongly oppose the renewal of bears, despite being compensated for any losses..
This foundation has shared on X, formerly Twitter, the rescue of a brown bear that had been trapped with its head inside a plastic barrel.
The bear was in the Leonese town of Anllares del Sil. As is the case with marine fauna and plastics dumped into the sea, the garbage we throw in the mountains is highly dangerous for animals. The specialized personnel of the Junta de Castilla y León had to capture the brown bear in order to help it.
Images and videos shared by the Board show an adult bear with its head inside a plastic drum used to store corn. Since it could not free itself, the animal was visibly upset.
From the foundation, they communicated with the specialized personnel of the Junta de Castilla y León, who began to mobilize.
His life was in danger
If the bear was not released, it would be unable to feed, drink, defend itself or move, so the intervention had to be carried out quickly. As indicated by the Board in its press release, environmental agents, the Bear Patrols team of the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León and clinical veterinarians from the network of wildlife centers of the Board of Castilla y León attended the site. assigned to the plan to capture and radio-tag brown bears in the community.
To facilitate the release maneuvers, the veterinary team was in charge of firing a shot with an anesthetic dart, which took effect within 12 minutes.
Having put the animal to sleep, the specialists were able to get closer and verified that it was an adult brown bear, weighing almost 100 kilos, but with no signs of dehydration, which led to the belief that it had been trapped for a short time.
The rescue team smoothly removed the drum from the head of the brown bear, which had not suffered damage, and took the opportunity to place a geolocation collar on the animal.
In this way, it will become part of the brown bear surveillance network. Biometric and biological samples were also taken, and then released.
Un oso, atrapado en un barril de plástico en León, España
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Un ejemplar de oso pardo buscaba comida en un barril de plástico cuando su cabeza quedó atrapada y era incapaz de liberarse, con el consiguiente peligro de deshidratación
La población de osos pardos en España ha ido recuperándose poco a poco. En la década de los 90, hubo zonas de la península donde estuvieron a punto de desaparecer, como en los Pirineos. Su recuperación no ha sido fácil y ha hecho falta una colaboración conjunta, entre ciudadanos y organizaciones conservacionistas, como la Fundación Oso Pardo.
Continue reading “Brown Bear trapped in a plastic barrel in León, Spain – finally freed unharmed -Eng/Esp-“
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