Treed black bear in Logan relocated

State game officials tranquilized and relocated a black bear found in a tree in Logan near Ute Lake on Thursday morning.

Logan Police Chief Rodney Paris said his department first received a call about the bear about 7:15 a.m. Thursday.

He said barking dogs in the area prompted the bear to go up into a tree on Schneider Avenue, near the lake.

Officials from New Mexico Game & Fish tranquilized the bear and removed it about 11:30 a.m. that day, he said.

Game & Fish Sgt. Andrew Teaschner said it was a “good size,” full-grown black bear weighing about 200 pounds.

Teaschner said the bear was a good candidate for relocation.

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong, and he was significantly afraid of everybody, being up a tree,” he said.

He said the animal was shot with a tranquilizer dart, tagged and released in the northern New Mexico.

In June, another black bear broke into a man’s chicken coop and killed one bird west of Tucumcari. It also tipped over animal feed barrels.

A resident and a neighbor shot and killed the bear, which is allowed when the animal threatens livestock.

With much of the state receiving more rain in recent weeks and more vegetation growing, Teaschner expressed optimism the bear would thrive more than it did during a parched spring.

Because of wildfires and drought earlier this year, Game & Fish officials accurately predicted more parts of the state would encounter bears.

“We’ve had much more activity this year than most,” Teaschner said. “Usually, I have one bear call in Tucumcari and maybe one in Logan. This is the second one in Logan and at least four in Tucumcari.”