Black bear expected to be OK after falling from tree in Utah neighborhood
A 2-year-old bear was expected to be OK after it fell from the top limbs of a tree in Salt Lake City. A 2-year-old black bear fell from a tree in Salt Lake City, Utah, causing a street closure and warnings from police for people to keep their pets indoors. The bear was found in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and was tranquilized by wildlife officials, but a device that was supposed to catch the fainting animal was not in place and it fell onto the pavement. It was transported from the scene for evaluation and is expected to be OK. Despite the area's proximity to the Wasatch Mountains and its wilderness, it is not common to see bears wandering into residential areas. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources stated that it's not unusual for bears to fall from trees and that the fall may have been broken by a lower tree limb. The area where the bear was tranquilised is located about a mile away from City Creek Canyon.
Опубликовано : 10 месяцев назад от https://www.facebook.com/abc3340, AMANDA GILBERT, MATTHEW JACOBSON, EMMA RILEY | KUTV Staff в Science
A 2-year-old bear was expected to be OK after it fell from the top limbs of a tree in Salt Lake City.
The bear was found in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood on Wednesday morning, prompting a street closure and warnings from police for people to keep their pets indoors.
Wildlife officials effectively tranquilized the bear, which was perched between 15 - 20 feet off the ground in large cottonwood tree in the area of 300 West and Reed Avenue. However, a device that was supposed to catch the fainting animal was not in place, and the bear instead fell onto the pavement.
It was immediately transported from the scene for evaluation, police said.
According to authorities with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, it's not unusual for bears to fall from trees, and the bear's fall may have been broken somewhat by a lower tree limb.
What is unusual, though, is that the bear was in the neighborhood to begin with. Despite the area's adjacency to the Wasatch Mountains and its wilderness, its not common to see bears wandering so far into residential areas.
The neighborhood where it was tranquilized is located about a mile away from from City Creek Canyon.
Scott Root, public information officer for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said the area, or even Salt Lake City as a whole, rarely has bear sightings.
He said the bear likely was looking for water or food, noting the nearby hills were "yellow and dry."
No other bear sightings were reported Wednesday.
Black bears are the only bear species in Utah, and they inhabit much of the state. DWR has previously said that encounters with bears often rise in drought years when their natural and water sources are running low.
If you encounter a bear, experts advise staying calm and standing your ground. Running away or climbing a tree is not recommended. Black bears can run up to 35 mph and, as demonstrated Wednesday, they are excellent tree climbers.
Authorities planned to relocate the bear to a more central area of the state.
Темы: Wildlife, Black Bears