Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
It took several hours to capture the bear who treed himself in downtown Springville last night. Wildlife officers eventually sedated it with a dart gun.
This morning the bear was taken back into the wild, where wildlife officers hope it will stay.
This three-year-old male bear caused quite a scene last night, after it ran up a tree in the middle of Springville. And it attracted a lot of attention!
Matt Child, Springville Resident: "IT WAS ONLY ABOUT 15 FEET UP THE TREE WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED, THEN HE ENDED UP ABOUT 60 FEET UP THE TREE, FISH AND GAME PATIENT, THEY WERE ABLE TO DART HIM AND ABLE TO PULL HIM OUT OF THE TREE."
After the drugs wore off, the bear was taken into Spanish Fork Canyon this morning and released back into the high country.
While it is not common for bears to show up in the middle of populated areas, it does happen.
This was the scene last summer in Moroni, a similar situation where a bear wandered into a residential area.
In most cases, the bears are young, two or three years old and wildlife biologists say the animals are usually just looking for food.
Steve Gray, Division of Wildlife Resources: “YOUNG BEARS LIKE THIS 2-3 YEARS OLD LIKE TO WANDER, LIKE TO LOOK FOR FOOD, IT IS POSSIBLE DROUGHT MAY BE A FACTOR, NOT AS GOOD FOOD RIGHT NOW, SO THAT MAY BE WHY IT WANDERED DOWN TO TOWN"
Problem bears like this are marked and identified.
If a bear continues to show up in places it doesn't belong, wildlife officials have to decide if the bear is becoming too aggressive and dangerous.
In most cases, wildlife officials will give a bear three chances before deciding if the animal needs to be destroyed.
