Biologist Saves a Tranquillised Black Bear From Drowning in Florida

The trouble started on land. The bear was seen roaming a residential area, apparently looking for food, and photos show it with its head in household rubbish. Black bears are opportunistic eaters, and a bear that learns that bins mean easy calories will keep coming back.

Wildlife officers decided to sedate the bear and move it to a forest away from homes, a common way of handling a bear that keeps visiting a neighbourhood. A tranquilliser dart takes several minutes to work, and in that window a frightened animal can run a long way. This one headed for the water.

The bear entered the Gulf near a line of private docks. Black bears are strong swimmers, so the water itself was not the danger. The problem was the drug: as the sedative took effect, the bear would lose control of its legs and its head.

The bear kept going out rather than back towards land. Warwick later described it as starting a swim of several miles across the harbour, far beyond what a sedated animal could manage.

Warwick reached the bear and took hold of it. He told The Early Show he wanted "to try to get in front of him and keep him from swimming out there and drowning." A bear that drowned after being darted would also have been a failure of the whole relocation.

A wider view shows the scene: the biologist in the water next to the bear and colleagues on a small boat close by. The bear was about 25 yards from shore when Warwick reached it.

Swimming alongside, Warwick placed himself between the bear and open water. The boat stayed close, but it could not lift a heavy, drowsy animal, so the only way back was to guide it to the beach.

A close look shows how near the bear was to going under. As the drug deepened, it struggled to keep its head up and at one point tried to climb onto Warwick to stay afloat.

Warwick held the bear around the neck and shoulders to keep its nose clear of the water. Even sedated, a bear of this size has the strength to injure a person badly, which is why this was a judgement made by a trained officer, not something anyone else should try.

Step by step, the pair moved into shallower water. Warwick's own injuries were limited to cuts on his feet from barnacle-covered concrete blocks and a single scratch from the bear.

Here the bear's paws are close to touching bottom. Getting its feet under it mattered, because once it was standing it could no longer slip under the surface.

By this point the bear was barely moving. Warwick stayed with it in the shallows, keeping it upright until more hands arrived.

Other people waded in to help with the final stretch. Moving an unconscious bear even a few yards is heavy work; adult males in Florida average around 300 pounds and this one was heavier.

A backhoe operator offered the bucket of his machine, which made it possible to lift the sleeping bear out of the water without dragging it. Improvised help from local residents is often what makes a wildlife rescue work.

With the bear safely in the back of a truck, Warwick checks on it. Wildlife officers monitor breathing and temperature closely while an animal is sedated.

The bear was released in Osceola National Forest, a large area of pine flatwoods and swamp near Lake City in north Florida. Moving it far from homes and rubbish gave it a better chance of staying out of trouble.