Bear that prompted Tahoe school lockdown was caught earlier

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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) — A Lake Tahoe high school was placed on a precautionary lockdown for about two hours Wednesday when a black bear wandered onto the campus three days after she and her cub were captured in Carson City and released in the mountains 30 miles away.

The lockdown at Incline High School was lifted shortly after 11 a.m. when state wildlife officials shot the mother bear with a tranquilizer dart after she climbed a tree outside the school on the lake's north shore.

Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesman Chris Healy said they placed the bear in a two-chamber trap baited with food on the high school's football field after school was let out Wednesday afternoon in hopes of luring the cub back to its mother.

Washoe County school district spokeswoman Victoria Campbell said Incline High's football practice would be moved to the soccer field Wednesday afternoon.

Healy said the bears won't be killed because they've not posed a danger to anyone. He said wildlife biologists hope to release both of them to the wild again in the next day or so.

"These things can take some time," Healy said after the "family trap" was set about 2:30 p.m.

"Where we release them is up for grabs," he told the Sierra Sun. "They're not doing anything wrong, but they've put themselves in a difficult situation, considering where they're wandering."

Healy said the same thing happens near the school around this time every year as bears seek additional food in preparation for winter hibernation. He said the lockdown was ordered as a precautionary measure.

"A young bear and teenage boys would not be a good mix," he said.