Wildlife Officials Tranquilize Black Bear In Yonkers
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A 200-pound black bear caused quite a stir in Yonkers.
It was spotted in a residential neighborhood near Desmond Avenue Tuesday night.
"We got a call from Yonkers PD saying there was a bear in the area, it's been a problem for the last couple of days," conservation officer Tom Koepf said. "This bear itself has been a problem the last three days, people have been calling on it nonstop."
Police said it all started a few days ago when a woman woke up and noticed that her collection of bird feeders was completely destroyed. She set up a camera and discovered the bear was responsible.
Wildlife Officials Tranquilize Black Bear In Yonkers
Homeowners like Nathan Sevilla had been keeping tabs on the bear, saying he was getting the latest updates from his garbage man.
"The garbage men have all the info. They have all the intel. They let me know where all the bears are," Sevilla said.
The 3-year-old bear went up a tree near the Bronx River Parkway and wildlife officials tranquilized it around 4 a.m. Wednesday morning, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
"Our team was able to come in, use a dart on it to tranquilize it and now we're going to move it to a more rural location," Koepf said.
Residents were relieved the bear was captured.
"I'm happy it's reunited with its family and away from mine," Sevilla said.
The bear will be taken to New Paltz for observation and will be released later this week, Burrell reported.
It is unclear how the bear ended up in the densely populated area. It's highly unusual for a black bear to be so far south and probably followed the green path of the Bronx River from up north by the reservoirs, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
Yonkers Police tell CBS2's Vanessa Murdock that the last time a bear was spotted in the city was back in the '90s.
Wildlife experts believe the bear likely traveled several miles, searching for a mate.
"Especially these young adult males, it's getting close to breeding season so they're doing a lot of wandering around," biologist Matt Merchant said.
The animal is one of a number of bears seen across the Tri-State area in recent days.
A family of four bears was spotted in Suffern, Rockland County on Tuesday morning and another bear was seen roaming around Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell, New Jersey over the weekend.
"They're opportunistic scavengers and they're going to come, so that's why we urge homeowners to take the appropriate safety measures -- keep your garbage out of sight or smell from the bear," Koepf said. "A bear is nothing more than a large raccoon, if you have food out, the bear is gonna come eat it."
