Black Bear Rescued in Indiana Flood

As weekend flooding in Indiana stranded a number of people, emergency rescue workers also responded to an unusual distress call - to help a caged black bear.

Local news outlets reported that a legally kept black bear was being threatened in its enclosure by rising floodwaters. When conservation officers arrived on the scene, the 500-pound black bear was in about four feet of water that had flooded its 10-foot by 12-foot enclosure, according to a local NBC station.

Officers were asked to rescue the bear after floodwater forced its owner to evacuate the area, The Associated Press reported.

It was deemed too risky for both the bear and rescue workers to tranquilize the bear and remove it from the enclosure. Instead, the rescuers constructed a platform withing the enclosure that the bear could climb upon to stay above the floodwater.

Indiana law allows residents to own black bears, provided the proper permits are obtained. The bear's owner held all the necessary paperwork to keep the bear, the AP reported.

The bear was rescued in Shelby County. Officials there said that floodwaters could possibly meet levels reached in 2005, which was the worst flooding the area had seen in 70 years, the Greensburg Daily News reported.

"Things are pretty stable at the moment," said Mike Schantz, Shelby County emergency management director. "We're kind of in a wait-and-see ... we've done about all the sandbagging we can."