Black Bear Wanders Into MI Neighborhood, Climbs Tree

MT. PLEASANT, MI — Wildlife officials safely relocated a 150-pound black bear who wandered into a mid-Michigan neighborhood Tuesday.

Officials said the bear climbed a tree above a white picket fence near Fancher and Mosher streets, just north of Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.

Officials isolated the area and tranquilized the bear with a dart rifle. The bear fell roughly 18 feet into a thick pole vault pad borrowed from Mount Pleasant High School. Officials said the bear was not injured.

After deeming the bear healthy and tagging it, officials moved it roughly 60 miles away to the Houghton Lake area.

Michigan DNR Wildlife Biologist Mark Boersen said it was best to intervene because the bear had wandered so far inside the city limits.

"Eventually, he would come down out of the tree, probably at night, but removal is the safest situation for people and their pets and the bear," Boersen said. "Everything worked out well."

Officials believe the bear made its way into the area from the Chippewa River corridor, which is roughly a mile and a half west of the neighborhood.

This capture and relocation comes three weeks after officials confirmed a bear sighting in the Detroit area.

Though most of Michigan's black bears, a population of more than 12,000, live in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, it’s not uncommon to see them in mid-Michigan and even occasionally in southern Michigan.

"In a general sense, you may encounter a bear anywhere in the Lower Peninsula," Boersen said. "Obviously they’re less likely as you go south. But people in the Lower Peninsula should not assume that they would never have a bear come in their yard."

He added that bears are covering long distances to find new sources of food and, soon, mates.

"Bears are actually getting into the breeding season now. So you could find a bear just about anywhere in the state," Boersen said. "You don’t have to be in the backwoods. Just because you live in the city doesn’t mean you won’t encounter wildlife there."