A unscheduled arrival by a bear caused some concerns at the Klamath Falls Airport this morning – but that bear is now on her way to a safe destination.
Airport Operations Specialist Sam Pagan notes that the bear caught the attention of ground crews early in the day…
“The gentleman that was doing the perimeter check came across people who were already concerned that there was a bear outside the fence.”
Tom Collom of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife adds that the bear arrived sometime over the weekend. “The first word we got was yesterday morning, and it was over here to the west about a half mile.” But, Collom notes the bear somehow wandered into town. “It’s about a 100 pound female, probably a year and a half of age.”
While the bear wasn’t causing problems, Sam Pagan says the decision was made to move the bear before problems began…
“Wandering the fence, trying to figure out how to get through the airport property.”
A fish and wildlife officer was called in to hit the bear with a tranquilizing dart, and relocate her. A small crowd was on hand.
Collom notes that the tranquilizer took about a minute to do its job…
“We’re going to give him another chance. We’ll take him way up in the woods and release him, and hopefully he’ll mind his p’s and q’s.”
Sam Pagan now has a new story to share…
“Kind of different, something that close – it’s a wild bear – you normally don’t get to see that very often. Especially when one comes to your work for you – so, a little different.”
And the bear now has some stories to share, too…
Black bears pop up in the Klamath Falls area every year or so. Airport officials say this is the first bear they’ve ever had to deal with.
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