This is the heartwarming moment two orphaned bear cubs are rescued after getting stuck at the top of an enormous spruce tree in the Canadian wilderness.
The cubs became spooked after their mother was killed by a vehicle and ran up the 70ft tree, where they remained stranded for three days.
Volunteers at the Northern Lights Wildlife Society, in Smithers, British Colombia, enlisted the help of local hobby climber Stephen Bot, who fearlessly climbed the tree to reach them.
Two orphaned bears were rescued from an enormous spruce tree in Smithers, British Colombia, in Canada, after they ran up the 70ft tree when their mother was killed after being hit by a vehicle
In the video, the frightened bears, a boy and a girl, are seen after their rescue in a metal cage with tags in their ears.
Mr Bot is then seen climbing the tree to reach the bears, one of which appears to stick its tongue out at him.
The little bears are huddled on top of each other on a bunch of flimsy branches.
A succession of photos then shows the bears, which were sedated before being carried down, being lifted from the tree by Mr Bot.
Although it is not shown in the footage, he puts them in a bag before climbing back down.
Once safely on the ground, the sedated bears are seen with their eyes open and tongues out as the volunteers treat them and tag their ears so they can be identified in future.
‘Those little cubs were not going to come down of their own accord,’ said Angelika Langen, who runs the Northern Lights Wildlife Society, with her husband Peter.
Volunteers at the Northern Lights Wildlife Society, in Smithers, British Colombia, enlisted the help of local hobby climber Stephen Bot. Above: The bears are seen huddled on top of each other while standing on flimsy branches
Mr Bot was later seen lifting the bears, both of which appeared to have been sedated, from the branches
Mr Bott carefully lifts one of the bears from the branches before beginning his climb down
‘They just huddled into each other up there, scared to death.
‘It was an enormous tree, had to be about 60 to 70 feet tall, we were all worried about Stephen’s safety, we were shouting up at him “don’t put yourself in danger”.
‘We were joking that we needed a helicopter, he was up there at such a dizzying height.
‘It was a wonderful thing to see the whole community come together to help out these cubs.’
The bears were finally brought back to safety near Cecil Lake, British Columbia, on May 15, 2019.
‘I was so happy to have them down on the ground,’ said Angelika.
The bears will be cared for by the wildlife rescue service until they are old enough to fend for themselves in the wild.
The bears are then seen apparently sedated with their eyes open and tongues out as the volunteers tag their ears so they can be identified later
The frightened bears are then seen with each other in their metal cage. Once they are old enough to fend for themselves, the bears will be released ‘still wild’ in the same area
They will then be released ‘still wild’ near where they were found.
The remarkable rescue mission was captured on camera by Darcy Shawchek, 44, a professional photographer and videographer based in Fort St. John, British Columbia.
‘It was pretty amazing to watch, those cubs chose one of the tallest trees in the area to get stuck in,’ he said.