Bear Finally Caught After Eluding Wildlife Officials Chatsworth Area

CHATSWORTH, CA — Authorities darted and tranquilized a bear perched in a tree in an industrial park in Chatsworth after it spent the last day turning heads and eluding captors in a nearby Northridge neighborhood.

According to Tim Daly, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the collared bear was about 15-20 feet up in the tree, a safe enough distance up to dart the animal. The decision was made shortly before 10 a.m. based on the bear's prolonged presence in populated areas.

"We have been able to work with a local climbing gym to place pads at base of tree," said Daly.

Officials shot the bear with a tranquilizer gun and before long, the sedated bear dropped down to the mats. Fish and Wildlife officials then loaded her into a truck for relocation deeper into the local mountains.

The bear is a 3 to 5-year-old female first captured in the Claremont area in late May. Since then, she has been tracked all the way to Malibu and finally to her current perch south of the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway. The industrial park is across the street from a densely populated apartment complex.

To travel across the width of Los Angeles County, this bear likely crossed more than one freeway.

It's pretty unusual to see a bear travel so far across such a populated area, according to Daly.

"I gather this bear made it across a lot of potential barriers," he said. "It's pretty remarkable."

Among the barriers, she eluded a trap set for her in Northridge on Monday. The goal, said Daly, is to relocate her in a deep enough into a local mountain range that she won't be tempted to seek food and water in the city again.