Boulder's famed "falling bear" killed by car

(CBS/AP) BOULDER, Colo. - Authorities said a bear tranquilized on a Colorado campus last week and widely viewed in photos as it fell from a tree has been killed by a car.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said the black bear was struck on U.S. 36 around dawn Thursday.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill told the Boulder Daily Camera that officials positively identified the animal as the bear that caused the stir by an ear tag placed on him after the brush with authorities at the University of Colorado.

Images of the 280-pound bear, its arms and legs akimbo as it fell April 26, were widely viewed in newspapers and online.

The bear had been relocated to a wilderness area about 50 miles west of Boulder.

"It's a bummer. It's so hard to go through this and not be able to give these bears a good place to live," Churchill told the Daily Camera. "The community sees relocating bears as a kind of perfect solution, and unfortunately it's a really difficult proposition."

Police say two cars were involved in the accident, resulting in minor injuries to one driver.