Two bears detained, released in Lake County

Officials detained two bears who wandered into Lake County during the last few days, darted, then released them both back into the wild, Stacy Courville, CSKT wildlife biologist said.

The first bear, a female black bear, was spotted at about 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Forestry Complex in Ronan, he said.

The bear was wandering around near the cars behind a chain-link fenced area and could not, or did not want to get loose, he said.

Courville said authorities did not want the bear to wander further into Ronan, so they darted her to sleep, detained and released her into the wild.

Courville got a second bear call at about 10 p.m. Monday from a professional friend who watched another black bear cross Highway 93 and venture into St. Ignatius near the Senior Center, he said.

Overnight, the young black bear got into local trash cans. But area residents near the Senior Center, Pinehaven Christian Church and an apartment building chased the youngster up a tree, he said.

Once treed, Courville said authorities darted the bear and released it into the wild as well.

Darting a bear is a safe, humane method to demobilize the animal long enough to transport it to safety.