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Bear That Wandered Into Denver Neighborhood Is Euthanized

DENVER (CBS4) - A bear that became quite popular in a Denver neighborhood on Thursday had to be euthanized.

The bear first was spotted in the morning near the Southwest Plaza Mall at Wadsworth Boulevard.

Early Thursday afternoon Copter4 captured images of the bear jumping fences and walking down open space trails before it made its way up into a tree, where it got comfortable far too high up for wildlife officers to shoot it with a dart.

On Thursday night officers were able to tranquilize the animal after it apparently came down from its high perch and it was euthanized.

The bear had already been tagged after extensive exploring in a human-populated area -- Interstate 70/Interstate 76 interchange area last year -- and the general Colorado Parks and Wildlife policy is to put down bears that return to civilization for long stays after already having been tagged and released into the wild.

Bear (5)
(credit: CBS)

"Beautiful little bear," Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said. "We don't enjoy doing this."

Churchill said homeowners in areas where bears might appear should take down their bird feeders and keep their trash bear-proofed. She also said residents of neighborhoods where bears aren't normally found should do whatever they can to try to scare the animal away. She suggested blowing airhorns or banging pots and pans from a safe place.

"Once they stay around, they're going to start thinking this is their territory. Especially with younger bears. And if an animal wants to stay in town, it's almost impossible to get it to change," Churchill said. "We can't share the city, we can't share our habitat. It's not good for the bears, and it's not good for people."

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