Any firefighter can rescue a cat from a tree – but a black bear is a much bigger challenge! Crews had to shoot several tranquilliser darts at a 130 kg beast that scrambled up a 60ft tree in a residential area of Bend, Oregon – and then fell asleep.
The dozy animal had to be strapped to a harness and lowered by two firefighters who scaled the tree.
Police said the bear had been knocking over rubbish bins and getting up to other mischief before it scrambled up the tree.
“It was definitely the first bear rescue for me,” fire engineer Tom Edwards said. “We had a good time and the bear had a good time, and that’s the important part.”
The case of the dozy Oregon bear isn’t the first such incident to make news recently – just last month another bear was rescued from a similar predicament in California.
