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Black Bear Captured By Wildlife Officials After Roaming Through East Brunswick

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- There was another bear scare in New Jersey Wednesday, and this time, the unwelcome beast was brought down with the help of a tranquilizer dart.

Perched 20 feet up in a silver maple tree in East Brunswick was a 3-year-old male black bear, weighing 263 pounds, reports CBS 2's John Slattery.

"Yeah' he's pretty big," homeowner Paul Gottlieb said.

The bear attracted a lot of attention on Tomkins Road, where police spotted him – and scared him up a tree.

"I heard a lot of noise in the backyard and saw the bear running up a tree," neighbor Paul Sulkes said.

The bear, and the tree, were on Gottlieb's property.

"I feel flattered, but next time I hope he chooses someplace else," he said.

East Brunswick Bear Scare
A black bear roaming the streets in East Brunswick was tranquilized and caught in a net after it climbed up a tree. (Credit: CBS 2)

Animal control officers said they fear there might be a next time, because there have been so many similar incidents recently.

Neighbors said the bear had been cruising the area for several days.

In fact, with the ear tags, Fish and Wildlife officials said the bear was captured in Monroe less than a month ago, and had been wearing a GPS collar that came off last week.

"He basically has been ping-ponging back and forth between the major highways," Kelsey Burgess, of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, said.

This time, a net was suspended below the bear and he was tranquilized. It took about seven minutes before the bear fell into the net.

The last time he was captured, the bear was taken to a wildlife area in Upper Freehold. This time, he'll go farther away.

"We're going to try to find a different location for him, so he won't come back," Burgess said.

Officials decided that this time, the bear will go to a wildlife management area in New Egypt, which is in Ocean County.

Both wildlife officials and East Brunswick residents said they hoped it would be a good spot. Fish and Wildlife officers have picked up the bear six times in the last year.

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