A wild bear that fell into a hydropower plant and got trapped for hours was finally rescued in north China.
The brown bear was found completely drenched and stuck at the metal drainage gate of the station in Subei county, Gansu Province.
The brown bear was found completely drenched and stuck at the metal drainage gate of the station in Subei county, Gansu Province. It was finally rescued in a 14-hour rescue operation
Wildlife workers were alerted to the scene at 8am last Thursday and were finally able to lift the animal to a cage with an excavator at 10pm. The bear has been transported to a safe place
Video footage of the incident last Thursday shows the bear struggling to stay afloat on the metal bars of the plant.
It appeared to be in great stress and and rescuers had to quickly come up with a plan to ensure the safety of both the animal and the workers, according to Gansu Television.
Quick-thinking rescuers decided to ‘scoop’ the animal up in the bucket of an excavator to remove it from the water first.
Rescuers decided to ‘scoop’ the bear up in the excavator’s bucket to remove it from the water
The bear appeared to be in great stress and and rescuers had to quickly come up with a plan to ensure the safety of both the animal and the workers, according to Chinese media
The bear awaits to be rescued while wildlife staff builds a metal cage to transport it
While the bear is resting in the bucket suspended above the water level, other staff members quickly built a steel cage from scratch to transport the animal.
After six hours, the metal cage was finally completed at about 7pm and the bear was lifted from the bucket to the cage.
A staff worker said the bear probably came down from the mountains and fell into the canal
After six hours, rescuers finally finished building the metal cage at about 7pm
The bear was left in a ‘safe place’. It is unclear when it would be released back to the wild