Black bear captured in Morgan County

MORGAN COUNTY,  Utah — A black bear was sighted wandering near Morgan Middle School Monday morning. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources confirmed that it caught and tranquilized the bear. 

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office received multiple from residents and commuters alerting them to the situation.

Sergeant Lucas Call with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene. 

“We were able to locate it [the bear] in a field,” said Call. The scared bear reportedly climbed a nearby tree. “Some local residents were called to assist with game hounds. And they assisted in maintaining the bear, keeping him in safe in the area.”

Gwen Romero with Morgan School District snapped the photo of the black bear below. Romero noted that the bear moved away from the school, keeping students distanced from the scene.

The DWR responded to the call and sedated and mobilized the bear. 

“The bear was loaded and then they [DWR] were going to relocate the bear a safe distance away from the city,” said Call. 

Black bears are common in Utah and can stray to urban areas when seeking food and water sources. 

This story will be updated. Weston Sleight contributed to this story.

Related:

• Millcreek Canyon bear sighting has hikers on alert

• Human run-ins with black bears nearly doubled in 2019 in Utah

• What to do in a bear attack? Don’t push your slower friends down in attempts of saving yourself, says the National Park Service