A black bear was released back into the wild after a lengthy standoff with conservation officers near a Nanaimo school.
The bear, believed to be a three to four-year-old female, was spotted roaming near John Barsby Community School in South Nanaimo Wednesday.
It then climbed into a tree in a nearby residential area and an officer hit it with a tranquilizer dart – but that wasn’t enough to put the bear to sleep.
“The tree she was in made darting her very, very hard,” said Stuart Bates of the BC Conservation Officer Service. “This time of year they have a lot of fat on them so the drugs don’t work quite as quick as we’d like.”
They hit the bear again with a dart – this time sending her crashing from the tree to the ground, allowing officers to safely put her in a bear trap.
The bear is believed to have come from a nearby forested area and was likely drawn into the city because of bird feeders and fruit trees, Bates said.
“Please, please make sure people clean up their attractants. This time of year, bears are getting into fruit trees all over,” he said. “So pick up the fruit on the ground, pick the fruit of the trees, if you have fruit you don’t want, call the Nanaimo Foodshare, they’ll come and pick it for you and take it to the food banks.”
The animal was kept for monitoring Wednesday and released back into the wild near the Nanaimo River.
She was last seen climbing up another tree.
