Bear spotted roaming around southwest Calgary community

Emergency crews were called to the Woodlands area after a bear was spotted in a tree in the front yard of a home in the southwest  neighbourhood.

Police were called to 17 Street and Woodgrove Crescent S.W. on Tuesday morning after receiving a number of calls from concerned residents.

Residents were told to avoid the area and when the bear did not leave the area on its own, Fish and Wildlife officers were called it to deal with its removal.

Officers sedated the bear and firefighters used an elevated to lift to pick it out of the tree.

"It was one of our more unusual calls, that's for sure. " said CFD Captain Tom Caves. "We get called for many animal complaint calls and this is just one that we lend a hand where we can."

Caves says it took a bit of manipulation to get the lift into the right position in the tree, but the bear was brought safely to the ground in the end.

"We still do the cats in trees, but it's not in our general scope of things. We're glad to help and we're glad it was a successful operation."

Len Lupyczuk, District Fish and Wildlife Officer in High River District says his biggest concern was the bear falling from the tree and injuring itself.

"On the one side, it would have fallen on some softer ground, some bark and leaves. That would have been acceptable. But the unfortunate thing is that there is a driveway on one side and if it were to fall and hit that, it's not the best case scenario that's for sure."

Lupyczuk says that he went up into the tree with firefighters to help them determine the best place to gather the bear into the bucket of the lift. "One of the firefighters rolled him gently into the bucket and it was extremely well done."

He says that the bear likely wandered into the area from nearby Fish Creek Park. "This time of year, bears, any type of animals are trying to get extra food for winter. Wildlife moves out of different corridors, different areas in search of food. It's just a natural thing that occurs."

The bear was moved to a container and will be taken back into the wilderness west of the city.

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  A male black bear lays sleeping in a cage after it was taken out of a tree in the southwest community of Woodlands. Officials say it's natural for animals to be wandering into different areas to look for food before winter sets in.

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  Fish and Wildlife officers were called to the scene outside a home in Woodlands on Tuesday morning after a black bear was spotted in a tree.