Ricky Gervais is calling for a conservation officer who was suspended for refusing to kill two bear cubs to be reinstated.
Bryce Casavant was suspended without pay after he refused to kill two young bears who were left orphaned when their mother was killed for raiding a freezer full of meat at a mobile home in British Columbia, Canada.
Rather than kill the cubs, the conservation officer took them to a veterinary hospital and they are now at a wildlife recovery centre, CBC reports.
Orphaned black bear cubs
The 54-year-old comedian has joined the growing number of people who want the conservation officer to be reinstated.
A petition urging the Ministry of Environment to reinstate Mr Casavant as a conservation officer has attracted more than 75,000 supporters.
Gervais urges that the "honourable man" be reinstated.
On Wednesday, Mr Casavant reportedly had his pay reinstated, but his suspension is still ongoing.
The brother and sister cubs reportedly returned to the property where their mother was shot, looking for her.
As they climbed a tree next to the mobile home, they were removed by a team of firefighters and the conservation officer, who took them to a vet after they were tranquilised.
The wildlife recovery centre's manager told CBC that the conservation officer did the correct thing as the cubs can one day be released into the wild.
Robin Campbell said: "[The mother bear] was a problem, but these cubs did nothing."
Gervais' followers have come in support of his comments:
Gervais is a vocal advocate of animal welfare, repeatedly speaking out against animal cruelty.
Just this week the writer and director went on a Twitter rant against "dog torture festival", Bok Nal days in South Korea.
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