A bear that prompted a massive media response during its hourslong stroll through a Monrovia neighborhood was eventually tranquilized and safely removed from a backyard Friday morning.
The large bear first appeared about 2:30 a.m. in the 300 block of North Mayflower Avenue. Video showed it walking in circles and laying on a front lawn.
About three hours later, the bear was seen again, this time as it wandered next to a KTLA news van in the 500 block of North Mayflower Avenue.
#BREAKING: Massive bear in front of our live truck in Monrovia… @LynetteRomero reporting live now on @KTLAMorningNews. #KTLA #Bear pic.twitter.com/S75uuHWPv7
— Marcus Smith (@MarcusSmithKTLA) February 21, 2020
The bear was casually walking down the street and checking out the local trashcans.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Tim Daly spoke to KTLA about the options officials would have to get the bear out of the neighborhood.
Crews might first try to haze the bear, essentially scaring it back to where it came from, Daly said. If hazing doesn’t work, the bear would likely be tranquilized and then transported back to its natural habitat, he said.
Daly also pointed out that bear sightings in the area are not unusual.
A large black bear roams the streets of a Monrovia neighborhood. @latimes @latimesphotos @LANow @MonroviaCA #Bkackbear #bear pic.twitter.com/9wSrufr9Pm
— Irfan Khan عرفان (@latfoto) February 21, 2020
As the bear was wandering into the front yard of one home, a man came outside and calmly walked toward his car.
He stopped to talk to our own Lynette Romero and said he’s used to bears hanging around the neighborhood.
“Trashcans come out on Friday and they come looking for something to eat,” Douglas Dennis said.
Finally, after hours of roaming from house to house, the bear decided to take a nap and slept peacefully until helicopters and lawnmowers woke it up, 16-year-old Aiden Dennis said.
That’s when Fish and Game officials tranquilized the bear and carried it out of the yard.
Video shows it took about six men working together to carry the bear.
Another bear sighting was reported Thursday morning on the nearby Mayflower Elementary School campus, but it left before officials could arrive, the Monrovia Police Department tweeted.
It was unclear if Friday’s bear is the same one who visited the school a day before, but Daly said there’s a good chance a bear will return to an area once it finds food.
Correction: A previous version of this story spelled the state wildlife department spokesman’s last name incorrectly. The post has been updated with the correct spelling: Daly.
