A woman from B.C.'s West Kootenay region found something troubling in her hen house, after discovering an orphaned bear cub alongside her chickens last week.
Miranda Charles found a 10-month-old bear cub co-existing with her chicks after it slipped under a chain-link fence and made itself at home in the coop in the Village of Midway, B.C., The Province reported.
The bear, nicknamed "Tinsel," shared food with the chickens for five days.
Charles and her family alerted the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, but they were told that the bear would be put down. Instead, they contacted the Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, B.C., which agreed to help.
The bruin was in rough shape when it came to the shelter: at 10 kilograms, it was well under a normal weight of 30 kilograms, CBC News reported.
Angelika Langen, who works with the shelter, told the network that this was a first in her 23 years spent helping animals. She said the bear was alone and likely without its mother for approximately two or three months.
"Usually they break into the chick coop and eat the chickens... not eat with the chickens," she said.
Tinsel faces extensive care as shelter staff prepare him for a possible release in the summer of 2014, according to a rescue centre YouTube video.
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