Wild Michigan Bear Finally Freed After Two Years with Plastic Lid Stuck Around Neck
After nearly two long years, a black bear wandering through Michigan’s northern wilderness with a chunky plastic lid stuck around its neck has finally been rescued and freed — and somehow, against the odds, he survived it all.
Wildlife officials with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had been keeping tabs on this particular bear since he was first spotted in 2023, when he was just a young cub. What caught their attention? A hard plastic barrel lid, jammed tight around his neck like a giant, immovable collar.
“It’s pretty incredible that the bear made it this far and was still able to feed himself,” said Cody Norton, one of the DNR’s bear specialists. “His neck was scarred and had lost hair, but overall, he looked much better than we expected.”
The bear had been something of a ghost in the woods — occasionally captured on trail cameras, but never close enough to catch. Even as he grew older and bigger, the lid stayed on, slowly squeezing as the bear matured. Yet somehow, he kept going. Officials say he managed to hunt, forage, and even hibernate with that uncomfortable hunk of plastic wrapped around him.
Finally, in late May 2025, hope arrived. The bear showed up again on a camera — still wearing that same lid — and the DNR immediately moved in. They set a cylindrical trap, baited it carefully, and waited. Not long after, the bear wandered in. This time, the plan worked.
He was safely sedated, and on June 3, wildlife crews moved in and cut the lid from his neck. After giving him a quick checkup to make sure he was otherwise healthy, they waited as he woke up and lumbered back into the woods, free for the first time in two years.
No one is exactly sure how the bear got the lid stuck on in the first place. It likely came from bear baiting practices, which are legal in Michigan but come with strict rules. One of those rules requires that the holes in bait barrel lids be large enough to prevent wild animals from getting trapped. Clearly, that didn’t happen here.
“This is exactly why those regulations exist,” Norton said. “Something went wrong, and this bear paid the price for a long time.”
Even more surprising is how the bear managed to survive Michigan winters while wearing the lid — a time when bears go into deep hibernation, and breathing and comfort are vital. The team suspects he just got lucky — or maybe he was tougher than most.
“We were honestly amazed,” Norton admitted. “He was still out there making it work, doing what a bear does. He was a survivor.”
Now that he’s back in the wild — finally free of the plastic ring that held him back for so long — Michigan’s most famous bear has a second chance. And for the wildlife officials who tracked him, waited for him, and never gave up, the moment was just as satisfying.