Brown bear helped from garbage pit in Sichuan

A Xizang(Tibet) brown bear trapped in a four-meter-deep garbage pit was rescued in Dege County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, after police and villagers jointly endeavored to build a wooden ladder to help the animal to safety.

Local officers rushed to the site and found the bear stranded at the bottom of the pit, and its repeated attempts to escape all failed due to steep and slippery walls.

As the pit was adjacent to village houses, the bear could have posed a threat to villagers, so police quickly evacuated local residents and set up a cordon for their safety.

Then officers and villagers, fashioned a makeshift ladder out of sturdy logs and lowered it into the pit. The frightened bear, however, knocked the ladder down in panic.

A second ladder was quickly secured and lowered. This time, the bear cautiously tested the structure, then hauled its heavy body upward inch by inch before vaulting over the pit wall and running back into the deep forest.

The Xizang brown bear is a subspecies of the brown bear, which is under the second-class state protection. Police believe the animal fell into the pit while searching for food. To prevent similar incidents, a protective fence has since been installed at the pit opening.