Black bear tranquilized in Logan

LOGAN, Cache County — A black bear was tranquilized and evaluated after it was spotted running around a highway on the south side of Logan on Saturday.

Jim Christensen, northern region wildlife manager with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said officials started getting calls around 2 p.m. about the bear.

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The bear had been running near the highway before heading into some trees behind a hotel, according to Christensen. The bear then left the area when dogs were brought in to help.

The bear ran east around some apartment complexes, where wildlife officials safely darted it with a tranquilizer, and it eventually fell asleep in the back of Young Powersports, at 1903 S. 800 West in Logan.

"There was a gate open, which made it fortunate for us that it contained itself in there," Christensen said. "We could shut the gate until it went to sleep."

Wildlife officials examined the bear and found it was a male, roughly 2 years old, with elevated temperatures. Wildlife officials dumped some water on the bear to help cool it down, loaded it into a truck and then took the bear to receive further tests and health assessments.

"With as hot as it was, it could be detrimental to the bear," Christensen said.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said it is dealing with more bear issues this year than last year because drought conditions are getting worse.

Reports came in about another bear on Wednesday after it was spotted in Provo just north of Splash Summit around 11 a.m. That bear, named Smokey Jr. by Provo police, was later found, tranquilized and relocated with the help of animal control and wildlife resources around 6:30 p.m.

About two years ago, Christensen said a bear came into the valley while experiencing similar conditions to the one tranquilized on Saturday.

"We had similar conditions that year," Christensen explained. "Had a hot, dry summer. Had a really late freeze that froze a lot of the mass-producing crops up in the mountains."

Christensen said black bear hunts are now happening throughout Utah. Policy requires the bear tranquilized on Saturday not to be released immediately, to give it every chance of survival — if it is released.

"Yeah, so please just be bear aware," Christensen said. "A lot of people do not realize that we have bears up above Logan. Obviously we do. As shown by (Saturday) and as of October two years ago."

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