LONDON, ONT -- It has been a long road to recovery for the black bear nicknamed “London” after being shot by police and then tranquilized in a west end neighbourhood earlier this month.

The bear has been making great strides at Bear With Us, a rehabilitation centre near Huntsville.

Veterinarian Dr. Sherri Cox, the founder of the National Wildlife Centre has been treating him since his wound and subsequent infection worsened.

“His wound extended from his tail end all the way down to his knees,“ says Dr. Cox.

“It was sort of touch and go there for a couple of weeks because of the infection that had set in, we were quite worried about two weeks ago.”

When he first got to the rehab centre they only gave him a 20 per cent chance of survival, but since then, Dr. Cox says that's increased significantly.

“Last week when we were there we improved that to around 70 per cent and today he's around 80 per cent, “ says Dr. Cox. “If he continues along this path he will be healed up within the next week or two and I expect that he will then get released and he'll have a great prognosis.”

London Bear

You can spot London beginning at the 3:30 minute mark of an update video from Bear With Us.

Watch the video below; please note however that there is a Graphic Content Warning due to images of London’s surgeries.