For the second day in a row, authorities have tranquilized a black bear in a densely populated part of the Lower Mainland.
On Friday, it was a one-year-old black bear causing traffic headaches in New Westminster. On Saturday, it was a three-or-four-year-old black bear on the loose in Abbotsford.
Nurse Parm Sahota was treating patients at the Cottage-Worthington Pavillion when one of them pointed to something outside.
She got out her phone and started recording video of the bear, which was pacing around the outside of the building.
“You can see (on the video) I’m backing away and I’m like, ‘OK, what if it breaks the window,” Sahota said. “I had to run for safety.”
Abbotsford police responded to the scene and were able to scare the bear up a tree. From there, conservation officers tranquilized him and firefighters hoisted him out of the tree and back down onto the residential road near Abbotsford Senior Secondary School.
Conservation Officer Don Stahl told CTV News this particular bear had been spotted around Abbotsford Friday night as well, but could not be captured.
“Now, we’ll be taking him way way up into the woods, where we’ll be doing a live release,” Stahl said.
At this time of year, bears are coming out of hibernation, and many of them end up wandering into residential communities, looking for food.
“We’ve just started getting bear calls in the last couple of weeks, and in Abbotsford it’s really picked up in the last 48 hours,” Stahl said.
Stahl reminded residents not to put their trash out until collection day, as it can attract bears. He also recommended taking down bird feeders, to which bears are also drawn.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Breanna Karstens-Smith
