WESTLOCK — A black bear cub seen in the town of Westlock over the past three days was finally captured last night in a busy east-end neighbourhood while children were out trick or treating Halloween night.
Fish and Wildlife officials were searching for the bear earlier in the day Oct. 31, near the outskirts of town but could not capture it. That evening around 7 p.m., officers received another call about the cub after it made its way into a residential area of town and was seen in the yard of a home on 109 Ave.
Peace officers, RCMP and Fish and Wildlife officials were called to the scene, and while police blocked off the street, the animal was cornered and ran up a tree, where it was kept until Fish and Wildlife officers were able to dart the bear cub and tranquillize it.
“They kept it up the tree until I got all the gear loaded and drove here,” said Mike Ewald, provincial problem wildlife specialist with Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services.
“We mixed the drug and it only took about three minutes for the drug to take effect,” he added, noting fellow Fish and Wildlife sheriff Danika Wittenberg, who was also on site and assisted with the capture, “reached up with a jab pole” and tranquillized the bear cub.
Born this past spring, the bear is a male and weighs just 45 to 50 pounds, noted Ewald, adding he was underweight and had a damaged nose, possibly rubbing it raw from searching for food. “His body condition is less than we’d like it to be this time of year for sure.”
The bear was eventually placed in a bear cage and transported out of town via Fish and Wildlife Alberta officers, but after reassessing the animal last night, they have decided not to relocate the bear cub, as was the original plan.
“After further assessment of this bear cub, I don’t think this bear will survive if we relocate him. He is in very poor body condition,” said Ewald in an email on Halloween night.
“I will be discussing our options with the Provincial Carnivore Specialist tomorrow.”
