As the September sun sets over a rural highway in Beaverton, Ont., a body is slumped by the side of the road. There's been a hit-and-run. But the injured victim is not a person -- it's a 70 kilogram, three-year-old black bear.

Normally after an accident like this, a bear would be put down or left to die -- roadkill. But on this night, an extraordinary effort will be made to save the life of this wild animal. Police are quick to respond and divert traffic around the scene. Next to arrive is a local veterinarian, Dr. Kirsten Kelly, who transports and stabilizes the bear at her clinic in nearby Fenelon Falls, Ont. She names the bear Simcoe.

Dr. Kelly discovers Simcoe has suffered lung contusions and will require surgery to repair a broken leg. But first, the bear will need to regain some of her strength before going under the knife. Fortunately for Simcoe, there is a place that can help and where the bear can be nursed to health -- the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau, Ont.

Located in Muskoka cottage country, Aspen Valley is the world's largest rehabilitation centre for black bears. The wildlife refuge also treats a variety of other animals -- including moose, deer, beavers, squirrels and owls -- even an albino raccoon. The centre rehabilitates and releases a thousand injured and orphaned animals every year.

Tony Grant, Aspen Valley's manager, and the rest of the staff and volunteers at the animal sanctuary, believe that bears like Simcoe and all manner of wildlife have the same right to life and welfare as any pet or person.

"Whether it's a bear, a mouse, anything at all -- it has a right to live and we're the ones that can help," Grant tells W-FIVE.

After a week of rehabilitation at Aspen Valley, Simcoe is ready for her operation. Dr. Ian White and Dr. Peter Jones, veterinarians at the Parry Sound Animal Hospital, have never seen an injury like this.

"On a scale of one to ten, for us this is a ten to eleven for what we are typically comfortable doing," says Dr. Jones.

• To find out more about the sanctuary, click here

Sedated, Simcoe is brought into the clinic on a cloth stretcher and hauled up onto a table by Grant and another Aspen Valley staffer, Jai Longhurst. Assistants shave fur from the bear's broken leg. Doctors place a gas mask over Simcoe's snout and administer anesthetic.

The surgeons begin to work feverishly. A scalpel is drawn across the patch of bare skin. Layers of raw muscle are peeled back and doctors work intensely to pry shattered bones into place.

Grant and Longhurst watch the operation with concern.

It takes hours of rigorous pulling and maneuvering, but finally the ends of bone snap into place.

Screws are drilled deep into bone, and the doctors draw a collective sigh as the long operation draws to a close. Under the operating lamp, the surgical steel plate holding Simcoe's femur together glistens amongst deep red blood and muscle tissue.

The wound is sutured shut. For the time being, Simcoe's going to be fine.

"Its absolutely excellent. It's a brand new, complete repair," enthuses Tony Grant.

Simcoe will return to Aspen Valley, where she'll join twelve other injured or orphaned bears, to spend the winter hibernating near the warm barn. By next spring her leg will be completely healed and she'll have bulked up enough to return to the woods where she was first found.

In the spring and summer of 2008, 88 bear cubs were released back into the wild, after spending the year rehabilitating at Aspen Valley.

Jai Longhurst explains why she and the staff at Aspen Valley are so dedicated to the animals' well-being: "To hold that little animal in your hand and get it to the point where it can go free, there's nothing more gratifying than knowing that from day one to release, you did that job - and you got that animal back to where it's meant to be."