NEWS
Bear sightings cause a kerfuffle on the West Side
Animal has eluded capture despite multiple sightings since Wednesday
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Bears always make a dramatic entrance when they wander into the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 metro area.
At least one well-traveled bear has racked up multiple sightings since Wednesday west of the Rio Grande from Corrales south to Interstate 40, said Darren Vaughan, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Wildlife.
So far, the bear has eluded capture, he said Friday.
The initial reports came in Wednesday evening from callers in Corrales. Calls later reported a bear around Cibola High School near Coors and Ellison NW, Vaughan said.
At 3 a.m. Thursday, officers with the Department of Wildlife and the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department searched Paradise Hills Golf Course in response to additional calls, he said.
"Game and Fish officers attempted to capture the bear to remove it from the area but were unsuccessful," Vaughan said. Officers continued the search throughout the day Thursday but were unsuccessful.
Had to call the law on a bear at Cibola high school
The bear made its next appearance around midnight near Interstate 40 and Unser NW.
"sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department officers responded and attempted to locate the bear using thermal imaging from drones, but could not find it," Vaughan said. "Officers will continue efforts to locate the bear."
Craig McClure, a black bear conservationist, said the wandering bear likely is a young male that followed the Rio Grande bosque south from the Jemez Mountains.
"Most of the bears that get in trouble this time of year are young males," he said. Mother bears typically chase off their male offspring after they are about 2 years old, he said.
Mount Taylor is another possible origin for the bear.
"The mother has stayed with them now for two years and it's time to shoo them away," McClure said. "They get lost and upset and panicked and hungry. The males normally will be the ones that show up in really unlikely places, because they're desperate."
