A bear scare shook up Ridgewood, New Jersey, on Wednesday, with police and animal control chasing the bear through backyards, past an elementary school, and up more than one tree.
According to NBC New York, the hours-long chase ended after animal control tranquilized the over-300-pound bear, and caught it in a safety net as it grew unconscious and fell out of a tree it had climbed.
"He’ll do no more running today," animal control officer Carol Tyler
told NorthJersey.com.
Throughout the chase, the bear climbed up a tree in the front yard of a home near Ridge Elementary School, a tree on Godwin Avenue, and a final tree on Lake Street. The pursuit began just after 9 a.m., when a resident spotted it on Mountain Avenue. It made its way through a few backyards, and the authorities fired rubber buckshot at the bear to direct its path and keep it away from populated areas.
Around 12:30 p.m. it fell from one tree and shortly took up in another, where firefighters blasted it with water as it clung to the tree bark. After climbing down and making its way to the third tree, it was tranquilized and landed with the help of a safety net to break the fall.
Once it was tranquilized, several residents were given the chance to pet the unconscious bear.
"I applaud everyone’s handing of this situation," Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn said in a statement after the incident. "The outcome could have been a lot different, but thanks to the professionalism and sensibility of our first responders and residents, everyone, including the bear, remained safe."
The bear chase came just one week after Rutgers student Darsh Patel was killed by a bear in West Milford. That bear is believed to be the same bear killed by a police officer later that day. The deadly attack was the first recorded in New Jersey in more than 150 years.
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