Bear that woke up residents in Salt Lake City safely relocated
Jun 5, 2024, 8:54 AM | Updated: 6:46 pm
This bear had a rough day, here’s 👇 how it went!
SALT LAKE CITY — After a startling discovery on Reed Avenue Wednesday morning, and the dramatic fall from a tree, a black bear was safely relocated to what officials call a “more appropriate habitat.”
A bear in a tree in Salt Lake City…
Photo credit Josh Peterman pic.twitter.com/5JWNwt3eSE
— Derek Petersen (@Derek_Photog) June 5, 2024
Residents on Reed Avenue, between 300 West and Wall Street, were woken up by police, who wanted them to stay indoors.
Josh Peterman told KSL that his dog alerted him to the bear.
(Salt Lake City Fire Department)
“He came right through the yard,” he said. “In fact the dog was going crazy this morning. We didn’t know why.
“Turns out, it was a bear.”
With the street roped off, the Division of Wildlife Resources planned to tranquilize the young bear and retrieve it by ladder.
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
However, after the dart made contact and as officials approached the bear, it fell about 20 feet onto the Salt Lake City sidewalk.
By the afternoon, the bear had been caught, moved and released back into the wild.
#Breaking A bear has been removed from a tree in the Marmalade neighborhood. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/LrjVFRCRwh
— Braden McElreath (@BradenKSL) June 5, 2024
Why was a black bear in Salt Lake?
Scott Root with the Division of Wildlife Resources has a theory.
“This bear could be looking for food and water. It could have been kicked out of an area by a larger, male bear,” Root said.
It was a little too much to believe for Finley Peterman, who just finished 7th grade and thought he’d be sleeping in during summer break.
“My dad woke me up, ‘there’s a bear in a tree,'” he said. “There was no way I believed him.”
Related: The dangers of coming into contact with a moose this month
