A large black bear that briefly ran loose through backyards in Northeast D.C. after being perched in a tree for a few hours Friday morning was safely captured and released back into the wild.
The Humane Rescue Alliance shared a video of the bear being freed in what the alliance described as a “proper habitat in a remote area of Maryland.”
The bear was tranquilized in a backyard in Franklin Street near 13th Street in the Brentwood-Brookland neighborhood shortly after 10:15 a.m., police said. A short time later, the sleeping bear, who officials said appears healthy, was loaded into a steel cage and placed on to an animal rescue truck, seeming to bring a peaceful end to a saga that started unfolding several hours earlier.
Chris Schindler, vice president of field service at Humane Rescue Alliance, credited cooperation between D.C. police, animal control and other first responders, “so that we could safely sedate the bear” and predicted the creature “could go off and live a happy life.”
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources took custody of the bear.
Breaking: Tranquilized black bear safely in animal rescue truck on Franklin St NE pic.twitter.com/oIQrO9aaoJ
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 9, 2023
The bear of a tale began about 7 a.m. Friday when police began fielding calls about the large black bear on the loose in the Northeast D.C. neighborhood. About half an hour later, the bear had clambered up a tree and remained perched there on a large branch.
Police cordoned off some nearby streets, and D.C. Animal Care and Control also responded to the scene — along with a crowd of neighbors and other spectators.
With news cameras trained on the sleeping bear in the branches, at one point, the creature roused itself and began attempting to climb down. That prompted police to begin blaring their sirens in an attempt to startle the bear and keep it from coming down.
Schindler, with Humane Rescue Alliance, said officials hoped that would delay the bear from coming down so they could get the proper equipment in place to capture it.
Then, at about 9:45 a.m., live video from 7News showed the bear scaling down the tree and disappearing into a backyard.
At that time, police said the bear was on the loose, running through backyards, and authorities asked residents to stay indoors.
Schindler said the bear managed to make it about half a block before a Humane Rescue Alliance worker used a dart to sedate it.
“We were monitoring so that we could … prepare to take the proper shot,” Schindler said.
Veterinarians with the National Zoo also responded to the area.
Schindler said authorities believe the bear they captured is the same one that was spotted Thursday morning in the city of Hyattsville about 4 miles away.
“This isn’t the first one; it probably won’t be the last. And so it is something we’re aware of, and we prepare for …. We’re always prepared for something a little bit unusual,” Schindler said.
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report from Northeast D.C.
