An orphaned and injured black bear cub is recovering in Lively after being hit by a train and rescued by rail workers.
The animal is one of many being cared for at the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge Centre right now.
A black bear cub came to the centre a week ago after being hit by train. He was found along the tracks about 100 kilometers North of Sudbury.
Caretakers say he's making a remarkable recovery.
“The damage to his skull was quite severe. He had maybe a three inch laceration in his skin and also a severe skull fracture. You could actually see the skull broken and it wasn't through to the brain.” said Rod Jouppi, of the Wild at Heart.
Luci Dalpiaz is an intern at the refuge centre and says she sees the cub getting stronger every day.
“We feed him wet cat food, wet dog food, fruits and vegetables, anything soft that he doesn't have to chew that much. This morning he started growling at us, when we went to feed him, which is what they are supposed to do.” said Dalpiaz.
The cub is just one of many wild animals that are being nursed back to health.
“We have got some other animals here too that we didn't think were going to live and now they’re pretty close to being released, so it feels great.” said Dalpiaz.
“We are an acute care centre here, so we have animals short-term. So, if they have issues and injuries that need to be fixed and treated, that’s what we do, and if it's longer term, we usually get the animal to go to a facility that focuses on the long-term.” said Dr. Jouppi.
The cub will soon be moved to the Bear With Us sanctuary in the Muskokas where there are other orphaned cubs, an outdoor area, and a den to hibernate.
And the goal is to release him back to wild when he's ready.
