MEXICO – Police called off the search for a bear hit by a car Saturday night after looking for the injured animal for 2 hours Sunday afternoon.

“We had an officer and a game warden out there all afternoon and they found nothing,” police Sgt. Roy Hodsdon said. “We followed his tracks to the river, where it appears he jumped in, but we couldn’t find any evidence of him from there.”

The black bear, estimated to weigh 200 pounds, was struck by a car driven by Peter Moskus, 47, of Rumford, on Route 2 around 5:30 p.m. Hodsdon said blood was found at the scene of the collision.

After being hit by the car, according to Hodsdon, the bear jumped a guardrail and rested on the riverbank before jumping into the river on the Mexico side.

Hodsdon said that the bear should be in hibernation at this time of year, but credited the animal’s presence to the unseasonably mild weather of late.

“We’re confident that the wounded animal is scared and in hiding as a result of its injuries,” Hodsdon said. “The search for the bear will cease, unless we receive a complaint about it.”