A man has claimed that he was fired from his job after rescuing a moose calf from being attacked by a black bear.
Mark Skage from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, revealed on Facebook that he had been driving back from a job site when he spotted an abandoned moose calf walking on the side of the road on June 6.
The man said that as he pulled his vehicle over, the calf attempted to climb into his truck. He then noticed a bear prowling around 50 yards away from the "few days old" animal.
"I made a decision at the time after she kept (trying) to climb into the work truck that I couldn’t just leave her there. So I stuck her in the passenger side and drove to town to get her some help," Skage explained.
Check out Skage's post below:The worker's choice to invite the calf into his car comes from his background as an outdoorsman and he knew that so was against the law.
But, he explained to CBC News that he "couldn't" leave the animal alone, stating: "People can say all they want. I know as outdoorsmen, we talk about predator control. Black bears are the number one predator for those calves.
"So I just thought, 'Well, I can’t take care of the predator, but I guess maybe I can try and help out this little calf,'" Skage said.
"It is against the law to pick up wild animals off the road or from out in nature, anywhere. It is illegal to be in possession of wildlife and transport wildlife."
Skage contacted his supervisor and the local Conservation Officer about his plight before he decided to name the moose Misty, and found a rehab center to look after her until she was ready to be released.
However, despite his good intentions, he was ultimately fired by his employer, AFD Petroleum Inc., for breaking wildlife protocols.
"All is well right? NOPE. AFD felt different and figured I was in grievous conflict with their wildlife policies. (they had never taken the time to know my background)," he wrote in his Facebook post.
"Any way to wrap up they did decide given all their options that letting me go was the best thing. So the lesson I learned was AFD is ok spilling fuel on the ground but not helping wildlife," Skage concluded.
The AFD condemned Skage's rescue, explaining that he should’ve called the conservation officer and waited for trained wildlife officials to handle Misty's relocation.
"Instead of reporting the situation to a conservation officer and allowing the authorities to handle the rescue and relocation of the moose, the individual made the independent decision to transport an uninjured moose calf, a wild animal, in the front seat of his company vehicle for many hours," AFD Petroleum president Dale Reimer said, per CBC.
"This not only put the employee and other road users at risk but also potentially caused distress and harm to the moose," he added.
Furthermore, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game disclosed that in areas in the north where grizzly bears are uncommon, black bears have been known to kill up to 40 percent of moose calves.
