A black bear that went up a tree after being encountered by a jogger in Del Rio on Tuesday has been captured and released at the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area in West Texas by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Reports of bear sightings on the edge of the Texas-Mexico border town had begun coming in to authorities Sunday. On Tuesday morning, the bear and a jogger encountered one another on a hike and bike trail on a creek inside the city limits and the jogger reported the incident.Police blocked off the area after discovering the bear had gone up a tree. Parks and wildlife department wildlife biologist Sylvestre "Junie" Sorola shot the bear with a dart and it fell asleep hung up in the fork of a large pecan tree. A city fire truck lifted Sorola and a game warden in a lift bucket up to the sleeping bear. The pair then pulled the 100-pound male bear into the lift basket.Sorola drove the bear to Sanderson, where it was transferred to the department’s Trans-Pecos wildlife division and later transported to the Black Gap WMA. It was released in apparent good health.Black bear sightings have increased in recent years in West and Southeast Texas. An April 15 article Black Bears Are On The Move In Texas can be found here.Bob Hood: 817-390-7760
