Guy Saves Baby Moose, Gets Fired

A Canadian man says he was fired for rescuing a baby moose he found on a highway—but he has no regrets about saving "Misty" from what he believes would have been certain death. Mark Skage tells the CBC that he spotted the moose almost being hit by cars on the highway north of Fort Nelson, British Columbia. He says he stopped to try to scare it away from the road—and after it tried to climb into his vehicle, he spotted a black bear around 50 yards away. Skage says that after waiting for the calf's mother to appear, he decided to bring it to safety. "She came to me, and I decided I'd answer the call," he says, per Global News. He says that the calf was only a few days old and that the bear appeared to be stalking it.

Skage says he called the BC Conservation Officer Service, and the moose is now in a wildlife rehabilitation center. He says he was fired from his job as a tank technician at AFD Petroleum Inc. for breaking wildlife protocols. "Instead of reporting the situation ... 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 President Dale Reimer said in a statement. "This not only put the employee and other road users at risk but also potentially caused distress and harm to the moose."

The company says that video from the pickup truck doesn't show any sign of a bear and that Skage does not appear to have searched for the calf's mother. Skage says he knows all about wildlife protocols, having helped several companies create them. He says he's aware he broke the law by transporting wildlife—but he's willing to pay any fines and he still believes he did the right thing, the National Post reports. He says he was relieved that there was space for the moose in a wildlife center. "Her and I kind of bonded on the ride home. I mean, shucks, we had, like, 5½ hours in the pickup truck together." (More Canada stories.)