Neighbors Upset With Wildlife Officers After Bear's Deadly Fall
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - Some residents in Fort Collins say they are upset after a young bear who was supposed to be relocated died in a fall from a tree.
"I was very angry. It was a 2 1/2-year-old bear. It had a lot more life," said Hannah Wilder, 15.
The female bear was spotted over the weekend in Rolland Moore Park on the city's west side. It climbed a tree on Saturday and was spotted by neighbors, who contacted authorities.
"It just seemed like a happy bear," Wilder said.
Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said wildlife experts ended up tranquilizing the animal and didn't expect it would fall. They say they did everything they could to try to save the animal, but it died when it fell about 35 feet from a limb.
Neighbor Cam Rodgers said the bear was beautiful, and that this was "a waste of life."
"I was shocked at how this could have happened. I just don't quite understand," said neighbor Cam Rodgers. "They had all the time in the world to prepare for whatever they were going to do. For them to not to prepare to be ready for when it fell is disappointing."
Wildlife department spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said after being tranquilized, the bear appeared to go to sleep and seemed safe in the tree.
"That's really why we were expecting we were going to be able to hand pick her off the tree and let her down," she said.
Instead, the bear became startled and went to a higher branch and then fell. There was nothing that had been set up to cushion her fall.
"Why was the tarp not ready?" CBS4's Tom Mustin asked Churchill.
"You know, all these situations are dynamic. I think it's something that we need to look at," she said.
Churchill said Colorado Parks and Wildlife relocates approximately 100 bears each year, and that only in two or three cases do they run into problems.
"It's unfortunate. It's always upsetting," she said.
Bear sightings are common in civilized areas at this time of year. The animals commonly load up on food for the next few weeks before their hibernation period begins, and they often find food near people's homes.
Wildlife officials strongly urge anyone who lives close to an area near a bear's habitat to take steps to make their trash inaccessible to the animals.
