Boise police and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game tranquilized and relocated a young black bear that had been seen wandering around a Boise neighborhood Thursday.
In a tweet, the Boise Police Department said officers found the bear in a tree near 26th Street and Hill Road at around noon.
"The bear was safely tranquilized and taken to a safe location by 2:00 p.m.," the department said in the tweet.
Residents in the neighborhood shared photos and updates about the animal on social media starting Wednesday night, when it was seen in the Quail Hollow neighborhood west of where it was tranquilized.
On Thursday morning, multiple people posted on the social media site NextDoor that they had seen the bear near 24th Street and Hill Road.
Roger Phillips, spokesperson for Fish and Game, said in a phone interview that the agency received numerous reports about the bear. When conservation officers found the animal, they cornered it in one backyard before it hopped a fence and climbed the tree, where it was later tranquilized and caught in a tarp when it fell.
Officers did a health check on the bear and found it to be a healthy, 78-pound male. Phillips said it has been released in the woods between Boise and Idaho City.
Fish and Game officials assume the bear came from the Foothills, which neighbor the development where it was found. Phillips said it was likely chased off by its mother.
"It's not uncommon (to see bears near city limits) this time of year because the mother bear is running off last year's cubs, typically the males," Phillips said. "... This fits the profile of a young bear kind of wandering around on its own for the first time."
He said it's not likely the bear's mother is near the residential neighborhood, but urged residents to call Fish and Game if they see a bear near the city.
