Toronto police said a bear wandering around a neighbourhood in the city’s northeast end had to be put down after it was deemed a safety concern.
Officers tweeted a warning just before 10:30 p.m. Friday saying a 300-pound bear was seen near Tapscott Road, east of Markham Road and between Steeles Avenue East and Finch Avenue East.
WATCH: Bear shot and killed in Toronto’s east end. Ashley Molnar reports.
Several hours later, the bear was found by officers in the backyard of Jim Li near McCowan and Middlefield roads, south of Finch Avenue East.
Li told Global News a friend alerted him earlier in the night that a black bear was roaming the neighbourhood but he thought nothing of it and went to bed.
READ MORE: How do officers decide whether to kill or capture bears?
At 2 a.m., Li said he woke up to banging on his door and the doorbell ringing.
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“I opened the door and saw the police, who told me there was a bear in the back and it had been shot,” said Li. Him and his family slept through the gunshot and were completely unaware to what was taking place in their backyard.
Li said there are lots of children in the neighbourhood, including his four-year-old, and said he was relieved the police were able to address the situation “quick and efficiently.”
“I’m glad it was taken care of – if they had to kill it, they had to kill it. I guess they did what they had to do. Unfortunately, the bear paid the price for it,” Li said.
READ MORE: Police shoot and kill black bear in Newmarket, Ont.
A 42 Division sergeant told Global News Saturday morning that it was determined the bear was “a safety concern for the community.” Emergency task force unit officers subsequently shot and killed the animal.
Earlier Friday night, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Foresty staff encouraged people to secure garbage as the bear may have been looking for food, police said on Twitter. It’s unknown if ministry staff were involved in the search and the decision to put the bear down.
Animal control staff advised police that they were not equipped to deal with the potentially dangerous situation.
Police said The Toronto Zoo, which is located northeast of the area, contacted officers to say all their bears “have been accounted for.”
With files from Jessica Patton, Jeremy Cohn and The Canadian Press
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