BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said on Friday that officers were sent to a north Boise neighborhood near the foothills Friday morning after they received several reports of an adult black bear near the junction of Hill Road and Lancaster Drive.
Conservation officers and biologists located the bear in a cottonwood tree in the backyard of a Hillway Drive residence. The bear was darted but before the immobilization drug could fully take effect, the bear fell out of the tree and ran toward Hill Road.
Due to public safety concerns, officers from Fish and Game and the Boise Police Department killed the bear before it could move further into more densely populated residential areas
This is the second incident involving a bear in Boise in the past week that has resulted in the bear being euthanized. On Sept. 18, Fish and Game officers euthanized a black bear in a southeast Boise industrial park compound between South Federal Way and Interstate 84. The black bear had been captured and moved from a north-end Boise residential neighborhood four months earlier.
"Given that we have had such a dry year, natural food sources in the mountain and foothills are likely limited," said Ryan Walrath, Southwest Region Wildlife Manager. "In years like this, bears are searching for other food sources to help them put on weight prior to hibernation in the winter."
A message was sent out Friday morning from the Boise School District warning families to be on the lookout for the bear, urging anyone riding a bike or walking to school to be extra cautious. It said recess will be indoors until the bear is moved from the vicinity.
Fish and Game said black bears can pack on as much as 30 pounds per week and add about four to five inches of body fat prior to denning for the winter. To do that, they need to consume around 20,000 calories per day, so bears are continually on the hunt for food.
Food for black bears in urban areas is mostly limited to things such as pet food, bird feeders, fruit trees in backyards, garbage cans and dumpsters.
Officials from Fish and Game said it is a significant public safety concern when bears make their way into towns because they can get conditioned to eating human food.
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