Sep 12, 2007 11:41 am US/Mountain
Bear Spotted In Boulder Appears To Leave Overnight
by Arturo Santiago
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) ―
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Authorities said the animal found in the 1400 block of Chambers Drive had an ear tag, meaning it had been relocated before. If the bear doesn't leave the area near Fairview High School, DOW officials will have to kill the animal per their policy.
CBS
Officers with the Colorado Division of Wildlife attempted to force a large bear in south Boulder back into the foothills Tuesday. Police were first called about the animal at about 6:40 a.m. after getting reports about a black bear climbing a tree.
Wednesday morning, DOW rangers believed the bear left on its own overnight.
Late Tuesday evening, wildlife and police officers taped off the area the bear was in, keeping people at a distance, hoping the bear would leave during the night, which is what appeared to happen.
Authorities said the animal found in the 1400 block of Chambers Drive had an ear tag, meaning it had been relocated before. If the bear didn't leave the area near Fairview High School on its own, DOW officials would have had to kill the animal per their policy.
Officers tried to coax the bear down from the tree, the Daily Camera first reported. If rangers had to handle the bear or tranquilize it, they would have had to euthanize it.
Officers formed an exit route Tuesday morning, hoping the bear will follow it. If it headed toward homes or Fairview High School, authorities were ready to put the animal down.
"At this point, we're really focusing on trying to get him to move," Jennifer Churchill with the Colorado Division of Wildlife said. "It is a tagged bear, so what we'd like to do is try to haze it back into open space."
Students at Fairview were kept inside as a safety precaution Tuesday.
"We would try to make sure that everybody understands that we don't know what's going to happen," said Jim Butterfield, Fairview High Assistant Principal. "This guy could come out of the tree right now and head for us."
The bear did climb out of one tree later Tuesday morning, but then climbed up another nearby tree and was still there at 7 p.m. Authorities said there was better chance for the bear to move out of the tree after dark.
A late freeze has drastically reduced the food supply for Colorado bears, therefore dramatically increasing the run-ins between people and bears.
In 2002, there were 404 black bear deaths after run-ins with people. There have been at least 877 reports of bear encounters this year, up from 502 for all of last year.
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