250-Pound Bear Rescued From Storm Drain
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) -- Rescuing a 250-pound bear from a storm sewer is not an easy task, but that's what wildlife officers were called to do on Thursday in Colorado Springs.
This bear has managed to get into a storm sewer in #ColoradoSprings. @COParksWildlife officer is on the scene. #wildlife pic.twitter.com/nGffS48Fbf
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) July 26, 2018
The fact that it was raining didn't help.
Rain is falling and a bear remains in a storm drain in #ColoradoSprings as @COParksWildlife officers decide strategy to free it. pic.twitter.com/TxkvWX966q
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) July 26, 2018
"[Colorado Parks and Wildlife] officers are a trying to avoid handling the bear. Once it's handled, it gets an ear tag. That's one strike against it. If it was ever handled again it would have to be euthanized," officials explained.
"With no obvious exit available, [Colorado Springs Utilities] is responding to open a manhole cover above the Barre in hopes it will climb out," CPW officials tweeted. Then [CPW] officers will haze the bear in hopes of scaring it away from this neighborhood and back into the forest."
An employee with the utilities company popped the sewer hole and CPW officers stood by with nonlethal rubber slugs in a shotgun.
"After few minutes, the bear poked its head out and began looking for an Escape Route," officials tweeted. "Meanwhile, residents of this senior community stayed locked in their houses waiting for word from [CPW] officers."
The bear came out about six minutes later.
About 6 minutes after the manhole cover was removed, out came the bear, estimated to be 3 to 4 years old and about 250 lb. An @COParksWildlife officer fired a non-lethal rubber slug at the bear as officers chased it into an open space behind this #ColoradoSprings neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/F4f6FEcFI9
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) July 26, 2018
"By hazing this bear with non-lethal rubber slugs, [CPW] gave this bear an extra lease on life. If it had been handled and tagged, that would have counted as a strike against the bear. Next time it was handled, it would have had to be euthanized," officials tweeted.
Officials believe the bear may have been attracted to the area by trash and berries in an open garbage receptacle nearby.
Why did this bear pick this storm drain in this neighborhood? Within eyesight maybe a hundred yards away, @COParksWildlife officers found an open garbage receptacle filled with garbage and branches from a tree filled with berries. pic.twitter.com/L9aW3evFhU
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) July 26, 2018
Another bear was spotted jumping over fences in Parker on Thursday. The bear then went back into the gulch near Cherry Creek Trail.