indigoxtreme
DIS Veteran
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- Apr 9, 2005
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This is what I was greated by at 7:00 am this morning directly across the street from my office. We are talking about a Major High Traffic area and densley populated area of Atlanta. Very interesting, but glad the bear is okay. 
Bear captured near Perimeter Mall
By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/15/06
What might have looked like a police manhunt near Perimeter Mall during Thursday's morning rush hour was actually a bear hunt, as a 75-pound cub kept officers at bay for about two hours.
Nearly a dozen DeKalb County police officers, along with a Department of Transportation HERO unit, were sent to the I-285/Ashford Dunwoody Road interchange about daybreak Thursday after the male black bear was spotted behind a nearby store.
Photos | Video
Officers cornered the bear in a ravine between the interstate on-ramp and a fence, and about 9 a.m., a conservation ranger with the state Department of Natural Resources shot the cub with a tranquilizer.
Although the bear was only about a year old, "he could hurt you real bad; the claws were about an inch long," said Ranger Eric Sanders.
"Anytime you deal with wildlife, regardless of the size or age, it's dangerous," Sanders said. "When you've got everybody around them, they do feel scared and they could attack somebody."
Sanders said he moved "from tree to tree" to get about 15 yards from the bear before tranquilizing him. "We know how to get as close as we can without spooking them," he said.
The bear's location, just off a busy interstate, made the capture particularly challenging, Sanders said.
"You have all this traffic out here, so you don't know how the bear is going to react when a horn blows or a siren or radio goes off," he said.
Once the tranquilizer took effect, the bear was put in a cage, loaded onto a truck and hauled away for release, probably in the North Georgia mountains, Sanders said.
Today's bear capture was the second this week near a metro Atlanta shopping mall.
On Sunday, an 85-pound bear was tranquilized and captured outside Gwinnett Place mall near Duluth.
That bear, which was first spotted at trash bins near the mall's J.C. Penney store about 10:15 p.m., was released Monday afternoon in Habersham County.
Don McGowan, a wildlife biologist for DNR, said that while bears stay in wooded areas as much as possible, it's becoming increasingly common for them to venture into human territory, especially during their summer mating season.
Bear captured near Perimeter Mall
By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/15/06
What might have looked like a police manhunt near Perimeter Mall during Thursday's morning rush hour was actually a bear hunt, as a 75-pound cub kept officers at bay for about two hours.
Nearly a dozen DeKalb County police officers, along with a Department of Transportation HERO unit, were sent to the I-285/Ashford Dunwoody Road interchange about daybreak Thursday after the male black bear was spotted behind a nearby store.
Photos | Video
Officers cornered the bear in a ravine between the interstate on-ramp and a fence, and about 9 a.m., a conservation ranger with the state Department of Natural Resources shot the cub with a tranquilizer.
Although the bear was only about a year old, "he could hurt you real bad; the claws were about an inch long," said Ranger Eric Sanders.
"Anytime you deal with wildlife, regardless of the size or age, it's dangerous," Sanders said. "When you've got everybody around them, they do feel scared and they could attack somebody."
Sanders said he moved "from tree to tree" to get about 15 yards from the bear before tranquilizing him. "We know how to get as close as we can without spooking them," he said.
The bear's location, just off a busy interstate, made the capture particularly challenging, Sanders said.
"You have all this traffic out here, so you don't know how the bear is going to react when a horn blows or a siren or radio goes off," he said.
Once the tranquilizer took effect, the bear was put in a cage, loaded onto a truck and hauled away for release, probably in the North Georgia mountains, Sanders said.
Today's bear capture was the second this week near a metro Atlanta shopping mall.
On Sunday, an 85-pound bear was tranquilized and captured outside Gwinnett Place mall near Duluth.
That bear, which was first spotted at trash bins near the mall's J.C. Penney store about 10:15 p.m., was released Monday afternoon in Habersham County.
Don McGowan, a wildlife biologist for DNR, said that while bears stay in wooded areas as much as possible, it's becoming increasingly common for them to venture into human territory, especially during their summer mating season.
