Bear cub with head stuck in animal-crackers jar rescued from tree

A 6-month-old black bear cub got his head stuck in a jar and had to be rescued from 40 feet up a tree in Ringwood, New Jersey last Friday. The 28-pound bruin tested the skills of rescuers as he became wedged in the tree, his head stuck in a large animal-crackers jar.



"It was an oversized animal cracker jar. We suspect he got it from a neighbour's trash container. We did find trash on the ground," said Larry Ragonese, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). "He was trying to eat what remained in the jar and pulled the jar over his head," Ragonese continued.

"He got spooked and went up into the tree." He credited the Ringwood and Wanaque police departments, the Wanaque Fire Department, and two of the DEP Division of Fish & Wildlife with rescuing this bear from what could have been a tragedy. When the call came in of a bear in distress at roughly 6pm, Wanaque Fire Department used a bucket truck to climb up and assist the bruin.



With the help of local police, the state workers arranged netting in case the bear were to fall to the ground. Due to his troubled state, the bear had to be tranquilized, Ragonese said, as Ringwood and Wanaque firefighters gingerly cut the jar off the bear's head. After at least two hours up the tree, the cub was dehydrated so he was dunked in some cool water to revive him, said Ragonese. The cub is now in the care of a local rehabilitator.