The Colorado Springs Fire Department and a Colorado Parks and Wildlife team worked together Tuesday night to remove a bear from a tree on the city’s east side.

Parks & Wildlife received calls for days about a young black bear wandering through town. Three officers found the bear around 7 p.m. and chased it up a tree near Crooked Arrow Lane, near Palmer Park and Powers boulevards.

The wildlife officers tranquilized the bear, but it wedged itself into the tree branches and couldn’t be reached. A fire truck was called in to set up a ladder, which a wildlife officer climbed to secure the bear and lower it down on ropes.

The bear was tagged and stayed overnight in a Parks & Wildlife vehicle. Wildlife officer Tyson Floersheim drove it two hours southwest of the city Wednesday morning to release it into the wild.

“If it had stayed there, it likely would have gotten into conflict that might have necessitated other actions. But because we caught it early, we were able to relocate it,” Floersheim said.

Parks & Wildlife said the bear was a 2-year-old male that weighed around 120 pounds.

Fire Department spokesperson Ashley Franco said the agency is happy to partner with Parks & Wildlife when it needs special equipment or manpower to handle an issue.

“It’s always great teaming up with our local wildlife experts to help keep those members of our community safe!” the Fire Department posted on social media Wednesday.

Tim Kroening, Parks & Wildlife’s area wildlife manager for the Colorado Springs region, said the agency gets calls daily about people seeing bears on the city’s west side or areas next to the mountains.

“On the west side of Colorado Springs, that’s very normal. We’re not looking to move that bear, assuming it’s not doing anything out of the ordinary,” Kroening said.

The same rule applies for mountain lions, one of which has been reportedly sighted near Old Colorado City multiple times in April.

While not every bear will be relocated, Kroening said residents should keep calling in and photographing bears to help track their movement and make sure they’re not staying in neighborhoods for an extended time. In 2025, Parks & Wildlife received 851 reports about bears in southeast Colorado.

This year could see bears venturing even farther into cities. Colorado’s warm and dry winter had thrown off the growing cycles in the mountains, which Kroening said leaving black bears with less fresh grass and berries to eat once they come out of hibernation.

“When they can’t find food out in the woods, they will be opportunistic and look for food in town as well. There’s nothing we can do about that other than keeping the word out as an agency,” Kroening said.

The Colorado Parks & Wildlife website offers tips for residents to avoid attracting bears. In areas near bear habitat, residents should not put out trash overnight or leave it unsecured. People should also be careful about leaving food outside for pets or filling bird feeders, which Kroening said are not crucial for wild birds this time of year.