N.S. school briefly put in lockdown over bear on the loose

A young black bear that made its way Thursday afternoon into a park located between several busy streets indowntown Dartmouth, N.S., has been rescued.

The bear was first spotted at around 5 a.m. near Sullivan's Pond, said Butch Galvez, a wildlife technician with the Department of Natural Resources, and was later located about a kilometre away in the Dartmouth Commons. People spotted itclinging to a tree at around 11 a.m.

"Black bears sort of follow their nose," said Galvez."A young male like this, this time of the year they're sort of in super eating mode and they'll wander. So through the night, the bear made it into an area, and once the traffic got busy, the bear went up in a tree for safety."

After ensuring the bear wasn't a threat to the public, Galvez said wildlife officers, with assistance from the Halifax Regional Police, began planning a rescue.

They helped bring the bear to safety byplacing crash pads underneath the tree where it was hiding and "chemically immobilizing"it, said Galvez.

"The animal was in great shape," he said, adding they planned to release it back into the wild Thursday evening.

WATCH | The bear was spotted midday in popular park:

Bear spotted clinging to tree in downtown Dartmouth

3 hours ago

Duration 1:00

First responders were on scene at the Dartmouth Commmons on Thursday afternoon after a bear was reported wandering around the area.

Dartmouth Commons is located near Dartmouth High School and Bicentennial School.

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education said both schools were placed in a hold and secure after being notified of the incident.

Learning continued as planned, a spokesperson said, and the hold and secure has since been lifted.

For about three hours Thursday afternoon,police advisedthe public to steer clear of the park and bordering streets.

At 3:15 p.m. they said they left the scene.

According to Galvez, it's not totally unheard of to see bears inthe Halifax area. Over the years, he said bears have been spotted in Dartmouth, Lower Sackville, and in one memorable instance, the south end of Halifax.

"You don't have to leave the city very far and there are bears, and bears will take advantage of human foods. And in cases like this, young bears will be travelling the landscape and occasionallywill wander into the city," he said.

"If they can't make it out, that's where we are there to help."

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