Bear cub wanders around city

Green River residents are used to seeing wildlife in town, especially deer.

It's normal to see deer wandering down the streets, but residents had to do a double take when they saw a bear heading down Uinta Drive Monday afternoon.

Green River Police Department Patrol Sgt. Mark McDonald said a lot of times they get dispatch calls and they turn out to be nothing.

When he received a call from dispatch saying there was a bear in the ditch along Uinta Drive, he thought someone had found the remains of a bear.

Dispatch then radioed back and told him the bear was now moving down Uinta Drive.

McDonald's first reaction was "It's alive?"

McDonald drove toward the south end of town and saw the bear near Mission at Castle Rock Rehabilitation Center. He said he didn't know what to do so he tried to chase him away from Uinta and resident's homes.

"I'm running after him with a catch pole," he said.

As McDonald was trying to keep the bear away from people, dispatch was getting ahold of Wyoming Game and Fish Department employees.

Steve DeCecco, Wyoming Game and Fish Green River Regional Wildlife supervisor, said they received a call from the GRPD telling them there were reports of a small black bear running down Uinta Drive.

DeCecco said when they arrived the bear had climbed up a blue spruce tree behind the CRRC building.

A video, already circulating on Facebook, shows the bear in the tree about halfway up. The video depicts the Green River Fire Department truck's ladder truck being used by Game and Fish Department employees to access the bear.

DeCecco said they mobilized the bear, which means gave him a sleeping aid before trying to lasso it around the neck with the catch pole.

"We were just about to get a catch pole around him when he slipped out," DeCecco said.

The video shows the bear then falling to the ground. Officer McDonald tried to catch the 30-to-35 pound bear, but was unsuccessful.

"He was like a ping pong ball coming out of the tree," McDonald said. "Poor little guy."

McDonald said he thought the bear was going to go one way, but then he went the other. He felt bad not being able to catch him.

The crowd that had gathered all gasped when the bear fell, but soon their gasps turned to oohs and ahhs when they realized the bear was alright.

The officer quickly grabbed the bear and took him to the back of a pickup truck. He held the bear down and waited for the Game and Fish Department employees to descend from the ladder truck.

DeCecco said the bear is currently at the department in a cage. He did not suffer any injuries from the fall and has been eating in drinking.

"We're trying to make a decision on what to do with it," he said. "We have pretty limited options."

DeCecco said because the bear is a so young, only being born in the spring, it may not make it on its own if they just relocate it.

He said they have no idea where the mother bear is and were still hoping someone might spot her.

So far, there has been no indication of a mother bear in town because someone would have seen her by now.

Word about the bear quickly spread through town.

"In this town, this is pretty unusual," DeCecco said.

Another oddity, is the fact that the cub was found by itself. They do not know if it got here on its own or had help.

DeCecco was still trying to figure out where the cub will go and was still investigating the possibilities as of press time.