Bear roaming Fayetteville appears to be headed north
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007
Fayetteville police and animal control officers have been bearing down on an elusive bear for the past couple days.
The latest sighting of the animal came Wednesday afternoon at the busy intersection of Joyce Boulevard and College Avenue.
Officers initially contained the creature in a wooded area between Zion Road and Joyce but could not find it. The bear eventually escaped the woods and was last seen headed toward the Lake Fayetteville area.
Ross Collins, a city of Fayetteville animal services officer, said witnesses have described the bear as small- to medium-sized and chocolate-colored. He said the department's plan is to get the bear in a tree and keep it there until the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission can get a biologist there to tranquilize the animal.
"The Game and Fish prefer a biologist to tranquilize because bears are very sensitive," he said. "It can overheat them or cause increased heartbeat."
Fayetteville authorities began searching for the bear Tuesday after several residents reported seeing the animal in the Gulley Park area.
Collins said if the bear crosses into Springdale it would no longer be pursued by city of Fayetteville personnel.
"We can only notify (Springdale ); we cannot leave our jurisdiction," he said.
Myron Means, nuisance bear coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said if all else fails, the bear could just find its own way home.
"It's a young bear that just happened to walk into the wrong area," he said. "Eventually he will go back to bear country."
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