About the size of a fat schnauzer

Baby Bear Captured in Boise School Playing Field

By Jill Kuraitis, 9-19-07

Not the black bear, but a black bear

Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists Wednesday afternoon, September 19, successfully captured a yearling black bear at East Junior High School in Boise. 

East J.H. is near the corner of Warm Springs and Broadway Avenues, one of the main gateways into downtown Boise.  Had Little Bear the urge for a cappucino and a little boutique shopping, a short four block stroll would have done it. 

The bear, about 18 months old and about 50 pounds, had been chased up a tree by residents of an apartment building west of the school. Boise police officers and school officials helped keep him treed until help arrived – first the fire department and then Fish and Game biologists Steve Nadeau, the agency’s large carnivore coordinator, and wildlife biologist Jon Rachael.

With police officers and firemen holding tarps, Rachael was able to jab the treed bear with a hypodermic pole. A few minutes later the groggy bear fell from the tree partly onto the tarp and Nadeau’s waiting arms.

After a quick check up to make sure the bear was healthy, Rachael took it into the Boise Mountains and let it go.

The bear captured Wednesday, born a year ago last spring, probably had been kicked out on its own by its mother in July.

The afternoon capture marked the 16th bear Rachael and southwest Idaho Fish and Game biologists have captured in the past month. Across the state, biologists have gotten more than an average number of calls about bears. Biologists say drought has affected the food supplies for bears, pushing them into town to find food to fatten up for the winter.

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