Animal rights activists have enlisted the services of a specialist veterinarian from Britain to nurse back to health an 18-month-old bear cub injured in a car accident in northern Greece.

The cub was run over on the Egnatia Highway, near Kozani, according to officials at the Arcturos bear protection group who said the animal had probably been trying to cross the road to forage for food in nearby forestland.

The cub, which suffered leg injuries and was said to be in shock, is to be anesthetized and treated by the unnamed British doctor at the Arcturos bear sanctuary in Florina before being released into the wild.

A spate of forest fires over the summer may have contributed to the scattering of Greece's brown bear population across the country, according to biologist Dimitris Bousbouras.