Bear safely tranquilized, captured in Lakeport neighborhood; wildlife officers relocate animal
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A black bear that had made its way into a Lakeport neighborhood on Monday morning was safely tranquilized and moved out of the city later in the day.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said his department began receiving calls just before 11 a.m. Monday about the bear, which had appeared in the area of N. Main Street and Rose Avenue, prompting police to urge residents to stay indoors.
Lakeport resident Judy Conard posted a video on Facebook of the bear walking by her yard. The animal looked around then ambled into some bushes, not coming near any people.
Rasmussen said his police officers and Fish and Wildlife responded right away.
“He was not aggressive or any kind of a danger. He was not acting that way at all,” Rasmussen said of the bear.
The bear headed into some brush near a beach area on the lake, “and we were hoping that he would stay there,” said Rasmussen.
Police subsequently expanded the advisory for residents to stay indoors in the area of N. Main Street between Clearlake Avenue and 16th Street and Rose and Clearlake Avenues between N. Main Street and the lake, where streets also were closed down.
Rasmussen, who was at the scene throughout the day, said officers watched the area and called out Lakeport Public Works to help with closing the streets and setting up a perimeter in case the bear ran. The Lakeport Fire Protection District also was on the scene at one point.
A number of people showed up trying to see the bear after the Nixle alert went out about it, Rasmussen said.
The goal was to tranquilize the bear and relocate it. “The tranquilizer gun had to come from Mendocino County because that’s where the warden was that had it,” Rasmussen said.
Responding to offer assistance were veterinarians Dr. Chris Holmes and Dr. Susan Cannon from Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic, bringing with them extra tranquilizer medication, Rasmussen said.
While they waited for the warden and tranquilizer gun, Rasmussen said they tried not to spook the bear.
He said the bear then went up a tree. “He moved around a little bit up there.”
That led to the officers having to figure out how to get the bear down safely after he was tranquilized, Rasmussen said.
Wildlife Officer Brenden Bullard said the proper term for the operation was “chemical immobilization.”
He said they used Telazol – described as a fast-acting anesthetic – which Bullard said is commonly used both by veterinarians and Fish and Wildlife officers.
Bullard said it’s safe and temporary, and puts the animal under while still breathing on its own.
Rasmussen said the bear was shot with a chemical dart and ended up backing down the tree most of the way after he was hit, clawing his way down the last portion of the way.
Police issued an all-clear advisory that the bear had been captured and streets were reopened shortly after 4 p.m.
The male black bear – which has a light brown coat – is believed to be a younger bear, although Rasmussen said it was hard to conclude on an exact age. Rasmussen estimated the bear weighed about 200 pounds.
“He appeared to be a very healthy bear,” Rasmussen said.
He added, “Nobody knows at all why or how he wandered into town. It’s really hard to say.”
Rasmussen guessed that the bear came from across the freeway where there is more wildland area.
While much of that area was burned in last year’s Mendocino Complex, Rasmussen said there is still habitat where the bear could have been living.
Once the officers had immobilized the bear, Bullard said they had a 45-minute to one-hour window to relocate it.
“We ended up relocating it out to South Cow Mountain,” Bullard said.
“Everything went well,” Bullard said, explaining that all of the bear’s vitals – including temperature and heart rate – were well within the healthy range for release.
“It went off on its own,” he said.
Bullard said that, hopefully, the bear won’t make its way back into the city.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that the state’s black bear population has increased by about 100 percent since the early 1980s, with the statewide population now estimated to be as high as 40,000 animals.
Wildlife officials report there are two subspecies of black bear in California – the northwestern black bear and the California black bear, which “are thought to be geographically distinguished by the crest of the Klamath Mountains.”
Biologists also differentiate three regional black bear subpopulations in California, which the California Department of Fish and Wildlife identified as North Coast/Cascade, Sierra and Central Western/Southwestern.
The North Coast/Cascade area includes Lake County, covering the area north and west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
“Roughly half of the statewide black bear population resides in this portion of the state,” according to the state’s black bear management plan.
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