Bear safely captured in Rio Rancho, released to the wild

RIO RANCHO — A bear was safely captured and released Monday after after climbing up a tree at a Rio Rancho residence, according to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

The animal, a mature male black bear, first spotted running through the arroyo near Northern and Unser boulevards around 10:30 a.m., made its way to a home near the same intersection, according to Dela Joyner, public information officer with NMDGF. The bear was found in a tree after being scared by the property owner’s dog, Joyner said.

Conservation officers responded to the scene, where they shot the bear with a dart before removing it from the home that afternoon and releasing it to the wild in Northern New Mexico, Joyner said.

The animal caused Rio Rancho Public Schools to take precautions, enforcing a temporary shelter-in-place and lock down at Ernest Stapleton Elementary School and Eagle Ridge Middle School, according to RRPS spokesperson Wyndham Kemsley.

There were no disruptions to learning and the enforcement lasted around 20 minutes before being lifted, he said.

The Rio Rancho Police Department couldn’t help but have some fun with the grizzly encounter, posting on Facebook about the “un-bear-able excitmet (sic) our officers felt while on paw-trol to help Game and Fish relocate this machievous (sic) honey bandit who made his way into Rio Rancho backyards.”

NMDGF Assistant Chief of Information Wheeler Brunschmid wrote in an email that the bear most likely came from Mt. Taylor or the Jemez Mountains.

Joyner urged anyone who sees a bear to be calm, stand upright and back away slowly from the animal.