A young black bear had a jarring fall from a tree in Denver on Sunday after wildlife officers tranquilized it as part of an effort to move the animal to a safer, more appropriate habitat.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a Sunday thread on X that officers were called to the area near Louisiana Avenue and Pennsylvania Street after the bear was spotted in the city.
“This morning we responded to a bear in a tree … in Denver,” the agency wrote. “Not a typo. In Denver.”
According to CPW, wildlife officers tranquilized the bear and coordinated with Denver Police Department officers below in an attempt to catch and control the animal as it came down from the tree.
“It didn’t have the smoothest landing, but the bear is ok!” officials said after the incident.
Video shared in the X thread showed the bear tumbling through branches before officers moved in and secured it on the ground.
CPW described the bear as a roughly 1.5-year-old male yearling weighing about 100 pounds. The agency said it planned to take the animal to better bear habitat and release it there.
The rare bear sighting in Denver comes amid heightened bear activity across Colorado, a trend wildlife officials have tied to drought conditions and reduced natural food supplies.
CPW received 6,129 reports of bear sightings and conflicts between Jan. 1 and Aug. 13, compared with 3,115 during the same period last year, according to the agency.
CPW also said in the X thread that drought conditions are driving more bears into neighborhoods in search of food.
“You’re not crazy, we are seeing more bear conflicts this year,” CPW wrote. “The drought is forcing bears to seek food in our neighborhoods.”
Wildlife officials are urging Coloradans to secure their trash until the morning of pickup, remove bird feeders and keep cars and windows locked to prevent bears from finding food around homes.
The Denver encounter also came just days after a mother bear and cub wandered into the city’s Harvey Park neighborhood.
CPW tranquilized and relocated those animals after they remained in the populated area for several days.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife warns that bears can become increasingly active as they prepare for winter and search for enough calories to build their fat reserves.
