This is the moment a police chief risked his safety to secure the life of a sick and defenseless bear cub who was left behind.
Thomas Owens has seen his fair share of black bears while working as New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest State Trooper.
He was always taught to keep his distance from the black bears, especially the protective mothers, but this time was different.
After spotting a family walking along, he noticed that one of the cubs was struggling to keep up with its family, and knew he had to step in.
He watched the mother take her cubs back and forth across the road to encourage the sick cub to keep up with them.
Despite this, the cub was struggling and eventually decided to sit down and rest, right in the middle of the road.
Initially, the mama bear tried to get him up and follow her and the family, but after a few failed attempts, it seemed like the cub was too weak to stand.
So the mama bear had a tough choice and ended up taking her other three healthy cubs, leaving the poor weak cub to fend for himself.
Thomas knew he couldn’t just step out and take in the little cub for fears the mother may come back and attack him, so he called for help.
Thomas stayed with the cub while waiting for the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife services to arrive.
When they did eventually arrive, the team decided to take the helpless cub to the local rehab center for an inspection.
Shortly after the whole incident, Thomas discovered that the mama bear actually had 5 cubs, and this was the second she chose to abandon due to it being weak.
Thankfully though, the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife officials found the cub before it was too late and brought him to join his brother at the rehab center.
The pair stayed at the rehab center until they recover from their illnesses and are strong enough to be released back into the wild.
Thanks to the actions of Officer Thomas Owens, the bear cubs have been given another chance at life.
We salute you sir!
