Captured bear will be euthanized

A black bear kept officials at bay for more than three hours Saturday morning as dozens of residents near Seeliger Elementary School stared in amazement at the giant beast sitting in a tree off Colorado Street.

Dagmi Smith said she was asleep just before 6 a.m. when her husband got up for work and noticed a 13-foot span of fence was knocked down in her backyard on Pinebrook Street.

The Smiths wondered if wind blew it down, but when Dagmi opened her back sliding glass door to investigate, tree branches began to fall.

"I looked up and saw this bear sitting in the tree," Dagmi said. "So I threw the door shut."

Police arrived at 6:45 a.m.

Initially there was some confusion about whether or not a wildlife officer would respond, but at about 9 a.m. Nevada Department of Wildlife Biologist Carl Lackey arrived on scene.

He shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart, which only seemed bothersome and caused the animal to climb higher. After a short time Lackey fired another dart.

For nearly an hour the stubborn bruin wouldn't budge, until a tree branch under its foot gave way.

After trying to maintain his footing, the bear slid down the tree, then fell the final 7 feet with a thud on the ground.

Lackey said the same bear was captured in Reno last May and released in the Mount Rose wilderness.

In about June it was caught off Nye Lane and released south of Gardnerville.

"So that's it, he can't stay out of these residential areas," said Lackey. "We have a three-strikes policy, but even without that, you've got a 400-to 500-pound male bear that is continually showing up in residential areas in both Reno and Carson City. Sooner or later he's going to hurt somebody."

He said animal will be euthanized.