Elusive Bear Jumps 3 Trees, Finally Caught in Northern N.J.

An elusive black bear that romped around a northern New Jersey community for several hours Tuesday was finally captured and tranquilized at about 3:00 p.m. as it rested in a tree in Ridgewood.

Police waited below with a net to catch the drugged male bruin weighing approximately 400 pounds, who struggled to hang onto the branches for about 30 seconds before falling out with a thud.

At authorities’ request, media outlets with helicopters in the air had tried to scare the bear out of the tree earlier in the day. But the helicopters backed off when the effort proved unsuccessful.

A spray of water finally got the bear to leave the tree, but he soon escaped up another tree with animal control officers in pursuit.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the October 2nd, 2014 edition of Hamodia.