Black bear wanders into Arcadia neighborhood

ARCADIA, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - A large black bear apparently wandered out of the San Gabriel Mountains and crossed the Foothill (210) Freeway, roaming the streets not far from the L.A. County Arboretum before being tranquilized and trucked off.

Live video:

From Phil Shuman:

'It was big and brown and cute.' Lyn Tom can laugh about it now, now that the huge brown bear has been safety trucked away from her Arcadia neighborhood, but there were a few tense moments this morning.

Neighbors noticed this 350 pounder about 9 a.m, called police, who called Fish and Game, who came with a tranquilizer gun and quickly shot a dart into the bears right shoulder. At that point it had already turned into quite a show, as people filled the street and kids were saying 'I wanted to touch it .'

That most definitely wasn't going to happen. Several officers armed with long guns were there as Fish and Game waited, seemingly forever, for the bear to topple over and fall asleep.

At that point it was loaded onto a tarp, lifted into the back of a pickup truck, and driven off. Usually we're told they're ''relocated'' far into the mountains.

This was an unusual episode in that this wasn't technically the ''urban-wildlife interface'' that our friend Rick Dickert often talks about from Skyfox, but rather this was all the way south of the 210 freeway, if you know this area, so this bear was roaming far and wide.

Was he hungry? Curious? Lost? Lonely? All of the above? We'll never know.

It did make me go online and look up 'what to do if you encounter a bear' Maybe you should too? The most simple instruction..... back away slowly and quietly.

Earlier:

The bear was spotted about 8:50 a.m. south of Colorado Street and east of Michillinda Avenue, and Fish and Game officials were called in shortly thereafter, said Arcadia police Sgt. Larry Peralta.

The bear was tranquilized about 10:15 a.m. a quarter-mile mile away, on a driveway at Altura and Catalpa roads, Peralta said, and taken away by a state Fish and Wildlife warden.

The destination of the groggy bear was not immediately known, he said.

"We rarely see a bear this far south of the (Foothill) Freeway," Peralta said.