A bear spent hours Monday in a backyard tree in Prince George’s County neighborhood before state wildlife personnel tranquilized and removed it.
The bear was spotted at about 12:10 p.m. in Langley Park, the Prince George’s County Police Department posted on X. Police warned residents to avoid it and to bring food and pets inside.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene but had to wait to sedate the bear because it was 55 feet up the tree, DNR Assistant Secretary of Land Resources Paul Peditto told WTOP-FM.
The wildlife personnel tapped the tree to try to coax the bear down and hit it with a dart. DNR Habitat Manager Jim Bennett told WTOP that “about seven minutes later, he started to get a little loopy,” then came down and went to sleep.
The bear is an 18-month-old male, the DNR told WRC-TV. The department is relocating it to a wildlife management area elsewhere in the state.
The bear’s appearance is part of a yearly cycle in which young males are separated from their mothers and move around to feed and breed, animal experts said.
“The breeding season is starting to kick in. Those yearlings are dispersing and potentially dispersing long distances,” DNR staffer Jonathan Trudeau told WTTG-TV.
