Fishermen rescue drowning bear cubs from lake

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A pair of Russian fishermen recorded the moment they rescued a pair of bear cubs struggling to swim in the middle of a lake.

Ruslan Lukanin posted a video to YouTube Sept. 28, showing the incident that occurred when he and a friend were fishing in a small boat Karelia's Lake Vygozero.

Lukanin said the bear cubs had been swimming toward an island with their mother, but the small bears were not strong swimmers and started to drown while their mother went on without them.

The video shows the men allowing the bears to cling to their boat and using their net to support the animals.

Lukanin said the saga came to a "happy end" when he and his friend gave the baby bears a lift to the island, where they were reunited with their mother.