A young caribou in the Buchans area is alive today thanks to the efforts of 15-year-old Jordan Lane.

The teenager from Buchans was snowmobiling with a friend recently when they came across the animal with its nose stuck in a snare.

Lane said he first used a machete to cut the snare from a tree, and then he carefully freed the nervous caribou.

"I put my finger up in underneath the snare on his nose," recounted Lane. "And I pushed the end of the snare front on to me so I was able to loosen it enough to get off his nose and he got up and walked away."

Lane said he wasn't afraid, and he pet the caribou to comfort it.

"It's a living thing and it's like us," said Lane.

Lane, who is an avid camper and hunter, said helping the animal reinforced his career plan to be a conservation officer.

He said he's seen caribou around Buchans since, and he said he thinks the animal he freed is probably one of them.