RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A wayward young black bear that made its way to downtown Richmond has been safely transported and released into the wild southeast of the Richmond area.
District Wildlife Biologist Aaron Proctor hauled the tranquilized animal early Tuesday morning before it became too warm.
The Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries agent said the bear probably got lost following a stream, looking for food and a mate,
“Well it’s a young male this time of year males are breeding it’s breeding season so males get in trouble trying to find mates,” said Proctor. “They’re kind of like nomads if you will. They’re roaming around looking to set up shop somewhere. You have to think about it in Virginia — you have 17,000 bears that are established in the eastern part of the state,”
The bear was looking for food and love in all the wrong places.
“Looking for love, looking for food, and a lot of times the love component may not be here in downtown Richmond but the food component is here. You know what I mean. So he is looking for easy food and he can find that here but he’s missing out on the love component here,” the wildlife agent stated.
Throughout the night the bear created quite a ruckus. Many residents spotted the animal in and around the Mosby Court housing community.
Virginia State University sophomore Amani Williams is home for the summer and he said he tried to follow and catch the bear.
“Oh yeah it’s a great way to start off the summer…Oh man this whole block was outside, it was late night, everybody was out there,” said Williams. “It was just craziness the police and everything. It was exciting. You don’t see a black bear in the hood, it’s kind of crazy, “
However, wildlife officials warn although this was a black bear and not a grizzly, it still isn’t wise to follow these animals.
