In a year that’s been rife with bear incidents around Wyoming and the region that largelyhaven’t ended well for the bears, Cheyenne residents are pleased that a black bear caught in town is alive and free again.
“Thank you for saving – especially the catch and release. I’m always grateful when this is an option,” Resse Marie Johnston posted in response to news that the Cheyenne Police Department and other first responders had captured an injured bear alive in Clear Creek Park.
Numerous other residents expressed similar sentiments, reflecting an abiding love for wildlife in the Cowboy State.
Still Managed To Climb A Tree
The bear was reported loose in Cheyenne on Sunday, and the person who called it in said it appeared to have an injured paw.
Despite the injury, the bear still managed to climb a tree in the park in an attempt to hide and evade capture, according to a Wednesday release by the CPD. But it was soon located by police officers, Cheyenne firefighters and Wyoming Game and Fish Department agents.
The bear was tranquilized, and a fire department cherry picker was use to pull it out of the tree.
Set Free Again
After the bear was tranquilized and brought down out of the tree, Game and Fish agents examined it. They determined its injuries were minor enough that it stood a good chance of surviving on its own in the wild.
The bear was taken into the Snowy Range Mountains and set free.
“No stolen picnic baskets have been reported,” the Cheyenne PD posted in its report, a sly reverence to the classic “Yogi Bear” cartoon series in which the title character is constantly trying to swipe campers’ lunch baskets.
Not All Bears So Lucky
It’s been a busy year for wildlife officials responding to bear calls in Wyoming, as well as neighboring Idaho and Montana. Bears have been showing up in settled areas throughout the region.
In many instances, the bears have been captured and relocated. In others they’ve been killed, either by wildlife agents or private residents shooting them in self-defense.
Most recently, wildlife agents shot and killed a grizzly that mauled a woman to death near West Yellowstone, Montana, in July and was later caught breaking into a house.
And Game and Fish agents captured and killed a grizzly that was featured in a Cowboy State Daily “Wyoming Sunrise” photo because the bear had been frequenting settled areas between Cody and Powell.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
