A police officer holds a bear cub that was rescued from a ditch alongside a busy interstate highway Wednesday in northern New Jersey.
UNION TOWNSHIP, N.J. — State police troopers came to the rescue of a bear cub found in a ditch alongside a major interstate highway in northern New Jersey.
Troopers from the Perryville station responded shortly before 1:40 p.m. Wednesday to milepost 12.2 on I-78 eastbound in Union Township. The animal was by itself, officials said.
The bear was soon safely secured and taken back to the state police barracks, where it later was turned over to staffers with the state's Environmental Protection Department, who were caring for the animal.
It's not clear how the cub ended up in the ditch or how long it was there before it was spotted.
Details on the bear's condition were not available Friday.
Photos: Insect and animal life around the globe
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A crow and a seagull fight for a prey in Tallinn Bay, Tallinn, Estonia, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
A Stag in rut bellows in early morning mist Bushy Park southwest London, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Deer cross a road in the woods of the Taurus region near Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A deer walks on a road in the woods of the Taurus region near Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A raptor after killing a pigeon in a garden in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A one horned rhinoceros and its calf graze in Pobitora wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, India, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A spider waits for his prey at the center of its net covered by water droplets in the forest outside Tallinn, Estonia, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Giraffes roam their enclosure at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A visitor looks at male Hippo Tony, at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A fawn and its mother stand together in a forest of the Taunus region in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A swan family watches Sunday walkers at Lake Baldeney in Essen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
A beetle basks in the sun on a city meadow in Tallinn, Estonia, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Seagulls fly over Al Arish beach, 50 km (32,5 miles), West of Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip in Al Arish, Egypt, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Butterflies feed on flowers nectar in a forest outside Tallinn, Estonia, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
A bee and a sunflower are silhouetted against the setting sun in a field Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Lawrence, Kan. The field, planted annually by the Grinter family, draws thousands of visitors during the weeklong late summer blossoming of the flowers. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Panda Yuanyuan eats her birthday cake for her 20 years old at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. Yuanyuan was a gift from China to mark warming ties with Taiwan in 2008. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A sea lion is covered in sand on San Carlos beach in Monterey, Calif., Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Flamingos in their enclosure at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A snail looks up as it carries its house on the back at a terrace in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Thursday Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Emily, a new born Rothschild's Giraffe, born on Aug. 11, 2024. stands in front of her mother Katharina, during a name giving event at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Two storks stand in their nest in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A flock of birds fly past turbines at a wind farm, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, near Spearville, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Icelandic horses play at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A raptor after killing a pigeon in a garden in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A spider waits for his prey at the center of its net covered by water droplets in the forest outside Tallinn, Estonia, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Giraffes roam their enclosure at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A visitor looks at male Hippo Tony, at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A lion cub, born on July 31, and mother "Indi" play in an area visible to zoo visitors for the first time, at Schwerin zoo, in Schwerin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Jens Büttner/dpa via AP)
Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng and her mother Jona are seen at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Geese stand on an outdoor table in a flooded neighbourhood in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
A fawn and its mother stand together in a forest of the Taunus region in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A swan family watches Sunday walkers at Lake Baldeney in Essen, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
A fourteen-pointer rests in the forest as rutting time begins in the Taunus region in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Seagulls fly over Al Arish beach, 50 km (32,5 miles), West of Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip in Al Arish, Egypt, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
A beetle basks in the sun on a city meadow in Tallinn, Estonia, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
A bee and a sunflower are silhouetted against the setting sun in a field Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Lawrence, Kan. The field, planted annually by the Grinter family, draws thousands of visitors during the weeklong late summer blossoming of the flowers. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A stork stands in the nest in Wehrheim, near Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Butterflies feed on flowers nectar in a forest outside Tallinn, Estonia, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
A bee flies to a sunflower on a field in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Panda Yuanyuan eats her birthday cake for her 20 years old at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. Yuanyuan was a gift from China to mark warming ties with Taiwan in 2008. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A sea lion is covered in sand on San Carlos beach in Monterey, Calif., Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Flamingos in their enclosure at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Emily, a new born Rothschild's Giraffe, born on Aug. 11, 2024. stands in front of her mother Katharina, during a name giving event at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A fourteen-pointer rests in the forest as rutting time begins in the Taunus region in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A stork stands in the nest in Wehrheim, near Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A bee flies to a sunflower on a field in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Two storks stand in their nest in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
