A 2-year-old black bear got stuck in a tree in the middle of University of Colorado-Boulder (CU) campus on Friday morning, after he was too spooked to climb down.
Bear up a tree at CU-Boulder – pic from Cliff Grassmick from the Daily Camera #9News pic.twitter.com/7LfmPtgRIY
— Jeremy Moore (@JeremyDanMoore) July 10, 2015
When animal rescue arrived, the bear grew more scared and climbing up even higher, 9 News Denver reported. Officials say that his response is quite normal for a bear of this age, but it made it inconvenient for the officers trying to get him down.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife had to resort to using a tranquilizer dart to calm the nervous cub enough for him to come out of the tree.
At about 11 AM, the bear fell from the branches onto gym mats provided by CU Athletics Department.
Bear falling from tree at CU-Boulder – pic from @cliffpix #9News pic.twitter.com/u22U6krG8l
— Jeremy Moore (@JeremyDanMoore) July 10, 2015
Officials also say that the bear traveled onto campus alone and was too close to highways and high traffic to find his way back into the woods without help.
Colorado animal services are now working on moving the 80-pound cub back to bear country in hopes that he won’t accidentally stumble upon the city again.