VIDEO: Bear in downtown park tranquilized

A black bear that decided to take a stroll through downtown Colorado Springs Thursday morning took his time to check out many of the city's highlights: He visited Acacia Park, ambled through the backyards of nearby houses, took a dip in Monument Creek and crossed Interstate 25 - twice.

In all, authorities chased the young, 100-pound male bear for more than two hours.

"Oftentimes, young males will search for new territory this time of year, and it could have been that he was looking for a new place to go and got caught in town in the daytime, and he didn't know how to get out," said Shaun Deeney, of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

The bear did his best to avoid authorities, ducking into backyards and lying low in thick shrubbery. At one point, he walked onto Interstate 25 and crossed all six lanes of traffic, Deeney said. Thankfully, traffic was light, but Deeney saw at least two cars swerve to avoid hitting him. The bear hung out near a retaining wall on the west side of the interstate, then crossed back.

He crossed Monument Creek again and padded through the backyards of the homes on the east side of the creek.

"You'd think that something so big and furry would be easier to catch," said Colorado Springs police officer Joe Wyatt.

Wyatt spent his morning traipsing through wet grass and brush, trying to spot the bear.

While he waited for wildlife officials to arrive with tranquilizers, he had his rifle out - just in case.

Erica Oletski, who was staying at nearby 13 Beverly Place, let the dogs out Thursday morning but noticed right away that her German shepherd had a strange bark.

"I went outside and was greeted by a police officer," she said.

She whisked the dogs inside and watched through the back window as the bear crossed through the yard a few times.

"A lot of people are in this area, so for a bear to be here is a little weird," she said.

The bear eventually settled in the backyard of a home on West Boulder Street, which overlooks Monument Valley Park and is filled with thick brush. Matt Yamashita, from the Division of Wildlife, walked onto a porch and hit the bear with a tranquilizer in one shot. The bear stood for a few minutes, then started wobbling and eventually fell on its side.

Wildlife officials tagged the bear so they can recognize him if he ever returns. Deeney said bears that cause such a ruckus have two strikes in Colorado. If he's caught again, he will be put down. Because of this rule, wildlife officials usually leave bears alone and monitor them as they make their way back to the wild. They had to remove this bear, Deeney said.

"Obviously, downtown, there's really no place for that bear to go. You can't haze it, you can't try to shoot rubber buckshot at it to get it to go away," Deeney said. "When you're in the confines of a metro area like that, that animal really has no escape."

He said the bear will be moved at least 100 miles away. Wildlife officials will monitor it as it wakes up to make sure it is not injured, and then let it walk away.

Normally, bears are easier to catch, Deeney said. They usually climb a tree and are easily cornered. This one had other plans.

"Every bear has his own way of dealing with threats," he said.

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