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A Canadian man claims he was fired from his job after saving a moose calf from a bear.
The man put the calf, who he named Misty, in the passenger seat of his truck and took her to safety.
His employer said that his actions breached company protocols around interactions with wildlife.
A Canadian man claims he was fired from his job after saving a moose calf from a black bear.
Mark Skage, who worked as a fuel supplier for AFD Petroleum Inc., said in a Facebook post that he was on his way back from a job when he saw the calf alone on the highway in British Columbia.
He said he spotted a black bear waiting for the moose about 50 yards away and made the decision to put the animal, who he named Misty, into the passenger seat of his truck.
“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,” he wrote.
He said he communicated with his supervisor and the Conservation Officer Service and managed to get the moose to safety.
The animal is now at a wildlife rehabilitation rehab center, where she will remain until she is ready to be released back into the wild.
But that was not the end of the story, according to Skage.
He said that his employer felt that his behavior was “in grievous conflict with their wildlife policies” and decided to fire him.
“The lesson I learned was AFD is ok spilling fuel on the ground but not helping wildlife,” he wrote.
Skage said that he was compelled to help the moose because he said they are often preyed on by bears.
“I just couldn’t do it, in my heart. 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,'” he told CBC News.
“It wasn’t just one moose calf that God saved. It was a whole bunch. She’s gonna grow up and have lots of babies, and her babies will have babies. I think it’s a positive. I believe that in my heart,” he added.
Black bears are the biggest predators of moose calves in northern areas where grizzly bears are uncommon, with the animals killing about 40% of all moose calves that were born, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
AFD Petroleum Inc. defended its decision to let Skage go and said in a statement that his actions breached the company’s protocols.
“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 in a statement to CBC.
“This not only puts the employee and other road users at risk but also potentially caused distress and harm to the moose,” said Reimer.