Just before noon Tuesday, wildlife experts tranquilized a black bear to get it down from an Albany tree.
The 1-year-old male bear was first spotted in a tree around 6 a.m. Police announced just before 10 a.m. that Second Avenue was closed to traffic between Hoffman and Frisbie avenues, as was Garden Street at Raymo Street.
Spectators gathered to see the scene on Second Avenue, as the bear perched on a branch and nibbled on leaves. Animal control and members of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation were also on the scene.
Jeff Johnson was among a crowd of spectators that gathered. He said he first spotted the bear while delivering newspapers on Raimo Street in the morning, but decided to finish his deliveries before returning to witness the scene.
“[It’s] exciting, different, you know. I’ve never seen a bear in Albany before, so it’s different," he said. "I’m just curious what’s going to happen next, so I guess I’m not going to leave until it’s done.”
The bear was tranquilized and fell into a net held by officers and DEC staff at approximately 11:50 a.m.
DEC wildlife biologist Jeremy Hurst said the bear most likely roamed far from his home to the Albany area.
“They leave the den, they start looking for food, and they're dispersing from where they were born," he explained. "And so they just wander off into new spaces. When we have bears in urban areas, it's almost always a young male bear. They move further than the females, and sometimes they just make bad choices.”
Hurst said the bear will be taken to a better habitat in the Catskills and released after he is monitored for side effects from the tranquilizer.
