Caught On Camera: Bear Browses Grocery Aisles At Porter Ranch Ralphs

PORTER RANCH (CBSLA) - It's un-bear-liveable! A bear walked into a grocery store in Porter Ranch and it was all caught on camera.

Shoppers were stunned Saturday to see a bear in Ralphs on Rinaldi Street. Some residents even tried to pet and feed the bear.

"I thought the video was amazing," said David Balen, of the Porter Ranch neighborhood council. "I'm glad that nobody came in contact with the bear. Anything can happen."

The Department of Fish and Wildlife said there were multiple sightings of the small adult bear. The agency managed to contain it inside a construction area behind Walmart.

The animal was hiding under a trailer for some time before authorities could reach it. They then tranquilized the 120-pound bear before relocating it to a safe area.

"It was decided that the best route for not only public safety but also for the bear itself was to chemically immobilize the animal, which we were successful in doing," said Lt. Jake Coombs, an officer with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. "And it's on its way back to the Angeles National Forest for release to a suitable habitat."

The hard question to answer, according to Tim Daly of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, is how to keep the bears from coming back into populated areas.

"You are now seeing, in a number of cases throughout Southern California, bears have become - this happening in Northern California as well, mostly in the Lake Tahoe region, - bears are getting more and more comfortable into where we live and in some cases, where we shop. Bears know where their food is, where their next meal might be," Daly said.

Nobody was hurt in the incident. If you see a bear in your neighborhood, call the Department of Fish and Wildlife.