A bear was spotted hanging out in a tree in the backyard of a home near Lost Canyon Road and Sand Canyon Road a few blocks from Sulphur Springs Community School on Thursday afternoon.
The bear — which is tagged and has made news before, as recently as a week ago in Pacoima — was seen napping Thursday afternoon in the tree and has not been tranquilized as of the publication of this story.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station arrived on the scene at 1:30 p.m.
Deputies blocked off the Lost Canyon Road entrance near the Sand Canyon Road and Lost Canyon Road intersection.
“I was kind of pulling up to the side yard, and I thought that it was a Bernese mountain dog sniffing some tires on a car that was parked kind of on the side. And then I saw it had an orange collar, only adding to me thinking it was a dog. It turns around, and I noticed it was a bear, and I started honking my horn to scare it away from where our goats and our horses are,” said Markus Andrade, son of property owner Delia Andrade.
Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control personnel were also on the scene as of the publication of this story.
“We have received several reports today and are communicating with CDFW (Law Enforcement Division) and local Animal Control. We have a biologist on-site already to assess and advise interagency staff,” according to an email sent by Cort Klopping, spokesman for Fish and Wildlife.
He added that the biologists on the scene were exploring two options to help the bear – “shepherd” or encourage the bear back to its habitat or capture it and release the bear into its habitat.
Klopping said the biggest concern for the bear is if he gets startled, he might try to run and could put himself in danger due to a busy freeway nearby.
Fish and Wildlife responded to the same bear in a tree near Pacoima on May 7.
“Wildlife staff identified him as a 4–5-year-old male weighing about 275 pounds. He was fitted with a tracking collar and ear tag (Orange-2092) to help monitor his movements. After evaluation, the bear was released into suitable habitat within the Angeles National Forest,” according to a post on the Fish and Wildlife social media account.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department and SCV Sheriff’s Station could not be immediately reached at the time of this publication.
“I’m concerned about the schools and the kids’ safety, and so we were trying to keep the bear away from kids and away from traffic at this point, and so when he went back up in this tree, we’ve just been trying to monitor him,” said Rachael Ostrom Sachar, owner of Twin Oaks Equine Veterinary Services.
This is a breaking news story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.
Signal Staff Writer Habeba Mostafa contributed to this report.
