Hibernation? Not yet for this bear cub
Children and campers showed up with their parents in a rural area east of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Monday, hoping to see a young bear running through a field as authorities unsuccessfully tried to track it down.
But the wildlife show didn't last long. The young bear evaded an Arizona Game and Fish Department officer's attempt to shoot it with a tranquilizer dart and slipped under a fence into a thicket.
Officials decided to leave the bear alone after concluding it posed no risk to the public, but they hope to tranquilize it sometime in the next few days and eventually return it to a more appropriate habitat in a nearby desert mountain range, said Amy Burnett, the department's spokeswoman.
"He was a moving target. It was difficult to hit," Burnett said. "For now, we're just hanging tight."
Officer Tim Holt, a field supervisor, said the department first heard about a young bear about a week ago when it was spotted by a Florence police officer, but wildlife officials were unable to verify the sighting.
Detective Steve Flores, a Mesa Police Association spokesman, said authorities asked a news helicopter to fly low in hope of flushing the bear out of the alfalfa field and onto the road, where officers could possibly tranquilize it.
But the bear slipped under a fence through a small hole, displaying no aggression toward the officers, he said.
"He's afraid of humans. He's kind of skittish, and that's what you want," Flores said. "It led us to believe he probably lives there," because the bear seemed to be familiar with the area."
Authorities said bears are sighted in the valley outside of Phoenix every couple of years. Darren Julian, an urban wildlife specialist with the Game and Fish Department, estimated the young bear is about 100 to 125 pounds.
Because it hasn't been very cold in mountainous areas, bears are likely still finding vegetation to eat and haven't started their annual hibernation, Julian said. He said the black bear population in Arizona is estimated at 3,000 to 5,000.
When a bear somehow makes it to the Valley, "in most cases, it's a young bear striking out, looking for new territory," Burnett said.
If the bear is eventually located and tranquilized, it will be evaluated to determine its health. Officials will either release the bear back into the wild quickly or fatten it up at a rehabilitation area for release in the spring.
Contributing: Paige Shacklett