Black Bear Captured Outside Restaurants In Downtown Manchester, NH
MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) - Another wild bear was on the loose in New England this weekend.
A bear about 3 years old was spotted in busy downtown Manchester on Sunday morning. It took animal control officers, Fish and Game officials, police and firefighters to get the bear out of the city.
"I was working this morning and I noticed three or four police cruisers and a couple of bike cops right out front. We thought maybe an alarm was going off on the building. Then, we noticed one of the police officers get out with a machine gun," said Adam Kaffel, who was working at The Bridge Café on the corner of Wall and Elm Streets.
It didn't take a machine gun to capture the bear.
"It ran into a corralled area with an open gate," said Michael Gamache, the District Chief for Manchester Fire. "They were able to shut the gate and keep the bear confined to that area. In his effort to escape, the animal climbed up 25-30 feet up into a tree and wedged into a "V" in the tree. [He was] kind of ready to take a nap."
He came down on his own after two tranquilizer shots, but not before firefighters used a ladder truck to try to reach him.
The bear received a third shot when he got to the ground, so he could be carried to an awaiting crate.
"I inquired the Fish and Game officers what attracted him to the downtown area. He said the smell of the food and the restaurants and stuff like that really attracted him," said Gamache.
Officials told WBZ-TV the bear was set to be released near Plymouth, New Hampshire.
The last time a wild animal roamed Manchester was about three years ago.
"Definitely not your normal Sunday morning in the middle of Manchester, no," said Kaffel.
