Police and Fish and Wildlife officers were called to the southwest community of Bayview on Friday morning after a bear was spotted in a tree in the front yard of a home.
Quinton Molnar lives in the home and says police called at about 7 am to say there was a bear in the yard.
“He was already up in the tree. He spent most of the morning on the side closest to the house and once Fish and Wildlife showed up, he kind of turned to the side. I was happy about it because we were concerned that there's a driveway on the other side of that wall and I didn’t want him to come down onto the concrete because it was quite a fall, he was probably 25 or 30 feet up in the tree,” said Molnar.
Calgary police secured the area while they waited for Fish and Wildlife officers to arrive.
“I placed one dart in him, high, the fat layer on the back is quite thick on black bears near the back end and that’s where the first dart went and that dart was enough to slow him down, take the edge off a little bit,” said Len Lupyczuk, Calgary District Fish and Wildlife officer.
Lupyczuk says the bear metabolized the first dart quickly so he had to hit him with another dose which knocked the bear out within five minutes.
"He was kind enough to release his grip and slowly rolled out of the tree, had a nice landing on some bark'" said Lupyczuk.
Once the bear was down, crews loaded it into a bear containment vehicle so it could be safely removed and placed back in the wild.
Fish and Wildlife authorities say that the bear was likely drawn to the area because of food.
"This time of year, they're looking for food anywhere they can find it. They'll get food from the trees around us. They'll find pet food, sometimes people's garbage, that sort of thing. He's doing what bears do, trying to get some fat on him before the winter gets hard," said Lupyczuk.
They also placed a tag on the bear so they can keep track of him in the future.
Other bears have also been spotted in the city over the last few days; one in Bearspaw, and a mother and her cubs were seen on the Tsuu T'ina First Nation.