Bear cub eluded officials for a week in Colorado. It was just chilling in a tree

A bear cub wandered around a Colorado middle school — then officials couldn’t find it for days.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers searched for the bear since last week, they said on Twitter. The bear was nowhere to be found until Monday, Oct. 24.

It was just hanging out in a tree, photos show.

“Earlier today, wildlife officers responded to a report of a bear cub in a tree at a residence in Fruita,” officials tweeted. “The cub has been eluding wildlife officers and visiting the Fruita 8/9 Middle school since last week.”

Officials from Lower Valley Fire and the Fruita Police Department helped Parks and Wildlife get the bear out of the tree and to a safer location.

Video shows several officers using the ladder of a fire engine to get the bear down. Then the cub was captured and loaded into the bed of a pickup truck.

“Once safely on the ground, he was taken to a wildlife rehab center to be evaluated,” officials said.

Officials did not say what happened to the cub’s mom, but it was alone.

Fruita is about 250 miles west of Denver near the Colorado-Utah border.

This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Bear cub eluded officials for a week in Colorado. It was just chilling in a tree."