Bear survives fall from tree near downtown Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A black bear that wandered into a Salt Lake City neighborhood from nearby mountains fell 20 feet from a tree Wednesday morning after being tranquilized by wildlife officials, unable to provide him with a soft landing.

The 2-year-old male black bear, perched above the tree-lined streets at the base of the Utah Capitol, fell hard to the road below, but survived. The State Division of Wildlife Resources freed the bear later Wednesday in more ideal habitat in the mountains after the agency said it passed several health assessments.

The young bear's urban adventure was cut short after wildlife officials shot him with tranquilizer darts, causing him to slip and fall as he came down the tree, spokesman Scott Root said. They were working to get a truck under the tree to help break its fall, but were unable to secure it in time.

City firefighters and the parks division had provided trucks with ladders and buckets to help remove the bear from the tree, but without success, wildlife spokeswoman Faith Heaton Jolley said.

“The ladders could not be deployed until the bear was tranquilized so as not to frighten it and get it out of the tree,” she explained.

Teams then loaded the bear into a tube-shaped cage, administered a fast-acting medication to reverse the effects of tranquilizers, and tagged its ear to pinpoint its location.

Residents had gathered a few blocks north of downtown to watch authorities capture the animal, and many grimaced when it hit the ground. Bears are resilient creatures and have recovered from falls in the rare cases where local authorities have been unable to catch them, Root said.

Black bears — the only bear species found in Utah — typically emerge from hibernation in mid-March, but they are rarely seen in the capital despite its proximity to the mountains, he said.

The bear, Jolley said, was likely searching for food and water away from the dry foothills.