A young black bear spotted in a Casper neighborhood was safely transported out of the city on Sunday evening, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokeswoman told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
Department spokeswoman Sara DiRienzo said that the bear was captured and immobilized Sunday morning and transported to the southern Bighorn Mountains later in the day, where it was released.
“It’s not uncommon for black bears to be spotted in town this time of year,” she said. “Cubs are separating from their mothers in the springtime and are on the move to new territory of their own.”
Casper police initially believed there were multiple bears in the area on Sunday, but there was only one.
One of the more famous examples of bears separating from their mother is famed grizzly 399, whose four cubs left the den last month. The cubs are around 2 years old and one was hazed not long after leaving its mother.
Last week, the Idaho Fish and Game Department issued a release warning residents of Salmon, Idaho, that a grizzly was spotted in the area, which is uncommon for that portion of Idaho.
“Most of Idaho’s grizzly bear populations are in the northern Panhandle area and the area in and around Yellowstone National Park in eastern Idaho,” officials said.
“But young male grizzlies may wander long distances and into areas where people don’t expect to encounter them. These young male bears typically wander through an area, but do not remain there,” they said.
