A black bear spent hours roaming the treetops near an elementary school in Ridgewood, N.J., forcing school officials to keep the students past dismissal time before it was finally caught and tranquilized.
Ridgewood authorities spent six hours playing a game of hide and seek with the 301-pound bear after it climbed a tree in the yard of a home near Ridge Elementary School on Tuesday morning, NBC News reported.
Wildlife officials tried using a tranquilizer dart to safely catch the male bear, but it didn't work fast enough and the bear shimmied down the tree and climbed up another one.
Meanwhile, administrators at Ridge Elementary School held students after dismissal while authorities handled the bear. Students at nearby GW Middle School and Orchard Elementary were also kept past dismissal, WABC-TV reported.
The bear climbed down the second tree and snuck off. He was lost for a while before officials found him hiding up another tree. But by that time the tranquilizer started to kick in and the bear fell from a branch into a safety net, according to NBC News.
"The bear is fine, he's tranquilized, we're still waiting for the chemical to take a little more effect," Carol Tyler, of Tyco Animal Control, told WABC-TV. "He's wrapped up in the net and there will be no more running today."
No one was injured and the students were released Tuesday afternoon. The bear, which never behaved aggressively, is to be transported to state protected woods where it will be released.
Authorities received reports earlier Tuesday of a black bear roaming the streets and across lawns in the town. Officials used gun shots to scare the bear into the woods when it climbed the tree near the elementary school.
Bear nuisance complaints in New Jersey have seen a 30 percent increase since 2013, despite a recent crackdown on roaming bears in the area, NBC News reported.
