Black bear strolls through yards, climbs tree in Winnipeg's Charleswood area

An adult black bear has beenstrolling through Charleswood Saturday morning.

Officers went to the westWinnipeg neighbourhood after police got a call about the animal from someone on Pepperloaf Crescent just before 10 a.m., Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Rob Carver said Saturday morning.

"It's dangerous. It's a full size bear, so we've got officers there for this reason," Carver said.

Police said later Saturday afternoon Manitoba Conservation had arrived and were taking over the situation.

A spokesperson for the province said conservation officers are in the area watching to see what the bear does.

"Every effort will be made to safely remove the animal to an undisclosed location," the spokesperson said in an email.

As of around 5 p.m. on Saturday, a provincial spokesperson said in an email that conservation officers remain on scene and the bear was still up in the tree on private property.

The province estimates the animal to be two or three years old.

The public is being asked to stay away from the area for their own safety and the safety of the animal, the spokesperson said.

'A real head shaker'

Tyler Walsh said he and his wife saw the bear running down a path about 50 feet away from their house when they looked out the window on Saturday morning.

"We were just actually washing dishes," he said. "It's kind of one of those moments where you're not quite sure whether that is reality or not, so you shake your head and close your eyes and look again."

Walsh said he started yelling that there was a bear outside, and his two sons ran out just after the bear had run across the street and out of view.

"We all hopped in the family vehicle and just sort of went to see if we could check it out again," Walsh said, adding that a small crowd that had gathered around the bear after it climbed a tree.

"It was a real head shaker."

Const. Carver said as far as he knows, this is the first call of a bear in the city that Winnipeg police have received this spring.