ORLANDO, Fla. — A 200-300 pound black bear that was perched on a tree plummeted to the ground after being tranquilized by wildlife officials in downtown Orlando overnight.
WFTV received phone calls into our newsroom around midnight about the bear, which was perched in a tree at the Orlando Rescue Mission on West Central Boulevard, just a block away from the Amway Center.
"I'm just trying to figure out how he got downtown," said one witness.
WFTV was there when Florida Fish and Wildlife officials shot the bear with a tranquilizer gun and then waited for it to react to the drugs.
Soon, the bear began to slip down the tree, hanging on until finally losing its grip and falling to the ground, hitting a trash can on the way down.
"Oh my God, a beautiful baby bear just fell," said an observer.
"What did it look like? (Have) you ever seen anything like that before?" WFTV asked.
"No, this was my first time seeing a bear fall out of a tree. He's adorable though," the observer added. "He got hit by a tranquilizer dart twice and he fell."
Wildlife officials said the bear was uninjured. After making sure it was asleep, they loaded it into the back of a pickup truck and hauled it away.
Wildlife officials said the bear will be released back into the wild.
This is the second black bear captured in the downtown area recently. Just last month, a 200-pound black bear that had been wandering around the Parramore neighborhood was caught and then released into the Ocala National Forest.
Wild life officials believe the came from wooded areas around the Wekiva River Basin, and the adolescent male was likely pushed from its territory by a bigger male because mating season is approaching.