Large bear on the loose in L.A.’s Chatsworth neighborhood
A bear first spotted in Los Angeles Monday morning has been roaming the streets of Chatsworth for nearly 24 hours and is still on the loose Tuesday morning.
An area resident named Crystal said she heard about the bear after a notification from Citizen that it was spotted near the Chatsworth Courthouse around 10 a.m. Monday.
By Monday night, the average-sized bear was seen on video jumping fences and strolling through a yard.
Onlookers gathered and watched as the bear peeked back at them through the gate of a business.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded Monday and were monitoring the situation but left the neighborhood around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
Crystal decided to come out and see the bear at an industrial park near Independence Avenue and Lassen Street after getting another notification around 11 p.m. that the bear was still running around.
“It does seem a little afraid. It seems like it’s tying to avoid cars and people. For the most part it was just hiding … We were actually just about to leave and it finally came out, it ran across the street … and now it’s up on the tree,” Crystal said as onlookers continued to watch at 4 a.m. Tuesday.
“I’ve always wanted to see a bear. I’ve gone traveling and never seen a bear until here in my home city,” Crystal said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday they are well aware of the bear and its travels.
On Monday, Fish and Wildlife personnel in Northridge put out a trap, described by spokesperson Tim Daly as a large cage on the back of a tailor, but the bear did not go in.
Daly said the female bear was first captured and given a tracking collar in late May after being found in the community of Claremont.
It was then released into the Angeles National Forest and at one point traveled along the 210 corridor to near Malibu, which surprised researchers because female bears don’t typically travel as much as males, Daly said.
Officials yesterday hoped the bear would find its way back to a suitable habitat.
“What we don’t do is try to stop an animal from making its travels unless it gets into a dangerous situation,” Daly said. “This obviously is not near suitable habitat this morning in the middle of Chatsworth.”
Daly said Fish and Wildlife personnel were headed to Chatsworth Tuesday to assess the situation and decide on a course of action “that brings all this to a nice and peaceful close.”
If captured, the bear would be returned to its habitat where “this time we hope it stays,” Daly said.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
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