For almost two weeks, a young female bear fought for her life with a large plastic jar stuck tightly over her head.
The two-year-old, weighing around 70 pounds, had been seen wandering through forests and fields with the container sealed in place. She couldn’t eat and had barely any access to water, yet somehow she kept moving — traveling miles upon miles in a desperate search for freedom.
Wildlife officials, responding to numerous public sightings, set up live traps in hopes of capturing her and removing the jar. But the bear’s constant roaming made her a moving target, always just out of reach of those trying to help.
Nearly 12 days after the ordeal began, luck finally turned. A family staying at their cabin spotted her emerging from the treeline, looking thin, weary, and wary. While maintaining a safe distance, one family member phoned wildlife authorities and kept her in sight, speaking gently and moving slowly to ensure she didn’t disappear back into the wilderness before help arrived.
A wildlife expert soon joined the effort and used a tranquilizer dart to safely sedate her. Once she was asleep, rescuers worked quickly to cut away the jar that had been a prison for nearly two weeks. Miraculously, her head and neck showed no wounds — only clear signs of weight loss and dehydration.
“It’s amazing she survived so long without proper food and water,” one rescuer said. “Being there at the moment her ordeal ended is something we’ll always remember.”
After the jar was removed, the bear was released into a quiet, food-rich forest. When she awoke, she immediately began foraging on nearby berries — finally free to live without the plastic trap that had nearly cost her life.
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