Man puts ‘injured’ black bear into truck in foolish attempt to save it

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A man believed a black bear lying on Highway 35 in Polson, Montana, had been hit by a car Wednesday morning, so he pulled over to check it out.

Discovering that the adult bear was still breathing and presuming it to be injured, the man somehow loaded it into the back of his pickup truck and drove it into Pablo to get it help, as reported by the Missoulian.

The man called the local tribal dispatch to let them know he was bringing in an injured black bear and pulled into the parking lot of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Complex.

"It wasn't a small bear or a cub," CSKT Fish and Game chief Pablo Espinoza told the Missoulian. "The warden said it was a good-sized bear. When we load them into the back of our trucks, we use a winch. They're heavy and hard to handle."

That part of the story remains a mystery, as does the original condition of the bear. That's because in the busy parking lot, the bear came to life and stood up in the back of the truck.

Sadly, a tribal law enforcement officer shot and killed the bear.

"He had no choice but to neutralize it," Espinoza told the Missoulian. "It's a huge parking lot and there were people coming to work. It was a safety issue.

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