Bear in Erie backyard tree removed, to be released elsewhere

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — State game commission wardens in northwestern Pennsylvania tranquilized and removed a 127-pound bear from a neighborhood in the city of Erie over the weekend.

Erie police and game wardens were called to the east Erie neighborhood at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday after the animal was spotted in a tree in the backyard of a home.

A fire department ladder truck backed into an adjacent yard near the tree, and one of the game wardens fired a tranquilizer dart from from the bucket of the ladder truck. The bear, which was clinging to a branch about 25 feet in the air, dropped to the ground several minutes later.

Wardens said the bear was uninjured by the fall and estimated that the animal was a year and a half old. They said the bear would likely be taken to Forest County and be released.