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Wayward bear tranquilized after nearly wandering into downtown Vancouver

Click to play video: 'Black bear found wandering on train tracks near downtown Vancouver'
Black bear found wandering on train tracks near downtown Vancouver
Photographer Craig Minielly captured images of a wayward black bear on the train tracks in Gastown before conservation officers were able to tranquillize and re-locate the unusual visitor – May 5, 2021

Vancouver police and conservation officers were called to capture an unusually furry trespasser on the city’s east side, Wednesday.

Officers were called after several people reported seeing a black bear wandering near the Pacific National Exhibition grounds around noon.

They were able to track the wayward bruin all the way to an area of train tracks near the foot of Heatly Avenue — almost downtown — where the bear was tranquilized.

A black bear seen near downtown Vancouver on Wednesday. . @craigminielly / Twitter
Click to play video: 'Bear scare closes Metro Vancouver park'
Bear scare closes Metro Vancouver park

It will be relocated somewhere in the Sea to Sky region, according to the Ministry of Environment.

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It was not immediately clear how the bear got into the urban core.

While bears are rare in the city, they are not unheard of — and can travel great distances along urban greenbelts.

In 2011, conservation officers had to tranquilize a bear that got on top of a garbage truck outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in the heart of the city’s central business district.

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