A Canadian man was fired from his job after saving an adorable baby moose from being mauled by a black bear because he put it in the front seat of a company truck.
Mark Skage rescued a baby moose from the side of a busy highway in British Columbia, Canada. As a result he was fired by his employer, AFD Petroleum Inc., who let him go for violating wildlife protocol.
Skage said that despite knowing that handling wildlife was illegal, he believed he did the right thing, but he didn’t expect to lose his job over it.
‘I just couldn’t do it, in my heart… black bears are the number one predator for that calf,’ Skage told the CBC. ‘So I just thought, ‘Well, I can’t take care of the hunter, but I guess maybe I can try and help this little calf.’
Skage told CBC News he saw the calf alone on the side of the road, unable to see the mother. Seeing the calf nearly hit by multiple vehicles on the road, he pulled over and tried to scare the animal off the side of the highway.
Mark Skage rescued a baby moose from the side of a busy highway in British Columbia, Canada
Skage said that despite knowing that handling wildlife was illegal, he believed he did the right thing, but he didn’t expect to lose his job over it.
Skage said that despite knowing that handling wildlife was illegal, he believed he did the right thing, but he didn’t expect to lose his job over it.
But as soon as the car door opened, the calf quickly tried to climb into the pickup truck, and Skage couldn’t stop the young moose from taking off.
‘Her and I kind of bonded on the ride home. I mean, Shaks, we had like five and a half hours in the pickup truck together,’ Skage told CBC News.
Skage then noticed a black bear in the area. Knowing that the bear is a significant predator, he is forced to help the moose calf.
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 40 percent of moose calves are killed by black bears in certain areas.
‘The second time he tried to get in, I looked across the road, I just looked over there – and halfway across the ditch, maybe like 50 yards, there was a black bear standing,’ Skage said.
He waited a while, hoping the calf’s mother would scare the bear away, but when that didn’t happen, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
While driving to find a safe place for the calf to stay, he called the BC Conservation Officer Service.
Finally, he took the calf to a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Skage admitted that interfering with nature was not always the best course of action, but he believed this was a special case.
He later discovers that the calf is female, and in his view, saving her means saving the future rat race.
As soon as the car door opened, the calf quickly tried to climb into the pickup truck, and Skage couldn’t stop the young moose from hitching a ride.
He waited a while, hoping the calf’s mother would scare the bear away, but when that didn’t happen, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
While driving to find a safe place for the calf to stay, he called the BC Conservation Officer Service
‘It wasn’t just a moose calf that God saved. It was a whole bunch of … she would grow up and have lots of kids and her kids would have kids. I think this is a positive. I believe in my heart.’
However, AFD Petroleum Inc., the company Skage worked for, had a different view.
AFD Petroleum officials criticized Skage’s ‘independent decision to transport an intact moose calf, a wild animal, in the front seat of his company vehicle for several hours,’ potentially causing ‘suffering and harm to the moose.’
‘Instead of reporting the situation to a conservation officer and allowing the authorities to handle the rat’s rescue and relocation, the man made an independent decision to transport an intact rat calf, a wild animal, in the front seat of his company car. Many hours,’ AFD Petroleum President Dale Reimer said in an emailed statement.
‘This not only puts employees and other road users at risk but also causes potential distress and harm to moose,’ they added.
They considered his actions a violation of wildlife interaction protocol and expressed concern for the safety of their employees and others on the road, as well as possible harm to the moose calf.
Finally, he took the calf to a wildlife rehabilitation center
AFD Petroleum officials criticized Skage for making ‘an independent decision to transport an intact moose calf, a wild animal, in the front seat of his company vehicle for several hours’.
They considered his actions a violation of wildlife interaction protocol and expressed concern for the safety of their employees and others on the road, as well as possible harm to the moose calf.
The BC Conservation Officer Service is investigating the incident, while Skage, who has experience with wildlife, admits what he did was illegal and dangerous.
He warned against handling wild animals and stressed the need to report injured or sick animals to the appropriate agencies.
WildlifeSafeBC program manager Lisa Lopez told CBC News that legal issues aside, managing wildlife on your own is dangerous.
‘These animals are wild animals, you know, we don’t know what kind of reaction they’re going to have, you don’t know what kind of animals are around. Mothers of young people are going to be protective of their children,’ she told the CBC.
‘And so it’s always the best idea to always try your best to move. Provide space. If you can, keep an eye on the animal and then call in experts to confirm, but of course put space between you and the animal,’ he added.