London bear shot by police recovered, to be released back into wild
The black bear is three years old and was likely born somewhere in southwestern Ontario
As he convalesces and fights off an infection caused by a bullet wound, the London black bear shot by police last month is regularly eating blueberries with brown sugar on top.
The bear wandered into the city of London a month ago, where it was shot by a police officer while up a tree.
It's been recovering north of Huntsville at the Bear With Us Sanctuary ever since, at first fighting off an infection that put its life in danger.
But with regular treatment from a vet that drives up regularly for check-ups, and those bowls of blueberries and sugar, the bear is now fully recovered and days away from being released back into the wild.
"He got lost in the city of London and he got quite a severe infection because of the bullet wounds," said Mike McIntosh, the director of the sanctuary.
Dr. Sherri Cox of the National Wildlife Centre drove up every few days to give the bear pain killers, to care for the wound and to administer antibiotics, McIntosh said.
"Without the care of this veterinarian, this bear would not have survived," he said. "It was quite a hands-on process to make sure that these wounds healed properly."
The bear, named London by sanctuary staff, is an adolescent — about three and a half years old — and will be able to survive alone in the wild.
Released within days
"He already knows what to do, he just got lost and wandered into the city," McIntosh said.
There is a small population of bears along Lake Huron and its possible this bear wandered into London from there, looking for food.
"The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will have us release this bear to a location of their choice, but it won't be in southwestern Ontario, it will be somewhere in central or northern Ontario."
The bear, if left alone, could live to be about 30 years. He will be released sometime this week.