Trooper Thomas Owens of the Carroll Police Department in New Hampshire responded to a complaint of a black bear family attempting to cross a road, according to the NH State Police. Rather than moving rapidly, the mom bear and her four cubs continued traveling back and forth.

When Trooper Owens stopped to assist, he discovered the mom apparently pacing in the road, according to The Dodo, and it wasn’t long before he realized why. The Town of Carroll Police Department was aware of this bear family.

“This is the mother who had five cubs out in Bretton Woods,” the department revealed on Facebook, adding that they had to pick up one of her pups the day before. The runt cub had been unwell and feeble, unable to keep up with its mother and siblings.

The Town of Carroll Police Department said in a statement that a bear with five cubs was unusual because usually bears only have two or three babies at a time. “It’s extremely rare. “This is only the second time we’ve heard of it in New Hampshire,” the agency noted.

According to Reshareworthy, as the mom attempted to cross the road with her four remaining cubs, at least one of her infants appeared to be reluctant to move. The mother was pacing back and forth, attempting to entice the youngster to accompany her. She wanted all four of her cubs to be with her, but one was unwell and weak to walk to keep up with her and its siblings.

Trooper Thomas Owens felt compelled to assist. “After doing some bear traffic control, we had to take one bear cub in for Fish and Game to be rehabilitated because it was too weak to keep up with its mom and siblings,” the department revealed. “This leaves her with three other very healthy cubs to focus on and care for.” When the other two are strong enough, they will be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.”

Trooper Owens stood guard for a while until the mom made the agonizing decision to abandon the ailing cub and continue her trek with the healthy three. The officer was then able to scoop up the weak one so that it could receive the assistance it needed, according to the agency.