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A family in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, were “alarmed” to discover a “giant” bear hanging out under the deck of their home.
Officers from Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) were called to the house last week after the family heard the giant beast “huffing and moaning.” There they found the 400-pound, 10-year-old bear, the agency said in a July 2 release.
The bear had been spotted in the area for several years and had “a reputation for getting into non-natural food sources,” so the officers used a tranquilizer dart to sedate the bear and relocate it, CPW said.
Once the bear was sedated, two CPW officers, along with “several bystanders,” moved the animal from under the deck to a truck, the agency said.
It was a “grueling process,” the state officials wrote.
CPW released the bear to a natural habitat “far from humans to give it the best chance at success where it will find abundant natural foods,” the authorities wrote.
The agency encouraged locals to “secure trash, remove bird feeders and all other attractants” to keep bears from entering into residential areas. “Let’s all do our part to keep bears wild,” CPW wrote.
A video captured the animal running from the back of the truck into the wild.
