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Police and Game Commission remove bear from neighborhood
Friday, October 30, 2009
By Jeff Corcino Staff Writer
A 462-pound male bear occupied local police officers and the state Game Commission for much of the day Thursday after wandering into the East End area of Clearfield and climbing a tree along Daisy Street. Initially police closed off the area in hopes the bear would climb down and wander off on its own, but when this failed the decision was made to tranquilize it.
However, the bear climbed to the top of a tall pine tree and Game Commission officers were unable to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart from the ground, so Clearfield Borough's ladder truck was brought in to give them a higher platform to shoot from. After the bear was immobilized by the tranquilizer dart and fell from the tree, it was given a medical examination, had a tooth removed for lab analysis to determine its age and was tagged before being placed in a bear cage.
Officers determined the bear was uninjured from the fall and was in good health.
The bear was tagged with "Do not eat" tags to warn hunters not to eat the bear meat for 30 days after being tranquilized to prevent them from eating tainted meat, according to John Wyant, wildlife conservation officer of the state Game Commission.
WCO Dave Carlini said the bear would likely be released in the Moshannon State Forest.
After the bear was captured and caged, Wyant allowed spectators to briefly touch the tranquilized bear while it was in the bear trap and gave a presentation and answered questions on black bears.
The bear was first spotted in the East End area at approximately 7 a.m. and wasn't captured until 2:15 p.m. No one was injured by the bear or in the attempt to capture him.
Assisting in the capture were the Game Commission, Clearfield County Sheriff's Office, Clearfield Fire Department, Clearfield Fire Police, the Lawrence Township Police and many members of the public.
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