Bears have an incredible sense of smell, so when they smell food there isn’t a lot you can do to stop them from getting what they want.
When a couple from Alligator Point, Florida, looked out of their window, they were greeted with a 400lb black bear on their front porch and immediately alerted authorities.
In an attempt to get the hungry beast back to his home in Osceola National Forest, wildlife authorities sedated him but little did they know what was going to happen next.
After being hit with a tranquilizer dart, the bear ran toward the ocean and started swimming.
This would have been an enjoyable moment for the bear had it not been for the drugs kicking in.
As the bear became drowsy, he began to drown. Adam Warwick, a biologist with the Wildlife Commission, spotted the struggling bear and jumped into the water after him.
”I looked at [a colleague] and I said, ‘I’ve got to go out there and stop him.’ So, I took off my shirt and shoes, jumped in the water and swam in the direction to head him off and keep him from going into deeper water,” Warwick said.
”It was a spur of the moment decision. I had a lot of adrenaline pumping when I saw the helpless bear in the water dying.”
Without a second thought, he grabbed the huge bear and started pulling him toward the shore.
As the bear was losing more and more feeling in his body, he became heavier and leaned on Adam more, but his weight didn’t deter him from his mission to get this bear to safety.
When he reached the shore, the bear had to be lifted using a tractor bucket and was hoisted up and onto the back of a truck.
Adam went with the bear to make sure he was okay as he was returned to his home, where he could safely sleep off the tranquilizer.
The story was originally reported on CBS News back in 2008, but now and then, it resurfaces on social media – and it’s a great story!
Hopefully this beautiful creature will stay in the area he knows from now on.
Please share to pay tribute to brave Adam Warwick who saved a bear from drowning.
