Now this is a story all about how

A bear’s life got flipped-turned upside down

And I’d like to take a minute

Just sit right there

I’ll tell you how this bear got tags in its ears.

A large male bear that was trapped in Penn Forest Township Tuesday morning by the Pennsylvania Game Commission was released unharmed, and actually better off.

During the trapping process, the bear was injected with a dissociative drug through a special syringe that is inserted through holes in the trap. The drug disrupts the brain’s ability to control its body, but the bear is not asleep. While checking the bear’s overall health, Wildlife Conservation Officer Cory Bentzoni noticed an infected open wound on its left side.

After measuring and tagging the bear, Bentzoni applied a topical antibiotic to the wound, and injected the bear with an antibiotic.

By measuring the girth of a bear’s chest, the game commission officers can get an approximate weight. This boar’s 52-inch chest calculated to a weight of 422 pounds.

After several ticks were removed, the bear was given a drug to counteract the first drug. About 30 minutes later the bear staggered off into the nearby woods.

The Game Commission traps hundreds of bears each year, mostly for research purposes, although conservation officers will also trap nuisance bears and bears that have known medical conditions.