HEBER CITY, Utah — Heber City is well known for its scenic views that draw visitors, both the two- and four-legged variety, from near and far.
“Once in a great while we would get, there would be a moose. You know, I’m talking maybe once every couple years," said resident Aimee Rolfe. "But now, even the deer year-round are in people's yards,”
But over the weekend, there was an unexpected visitor that made its way through town.
“I was like, there’s no way. There’s not a bear in town!” Officer Taylor Thomas with the Heber City Police Department exclaimed.
“Why would a bear be traveling around town?” Elizabeth Newton still wondered Monday.
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Newton heard Saturday night that a bear made a pit stop where she works at the On the Run gas station along Highway 40.
“It was just walking around, sniffing around people’s trash cans, dumpsters trying to find food,” she explained.
At the time and days later, Newton thought a bear sighting in Heber City was something out of the ordinary and gave her concerns.
“Is it still going to be loose when I walk? Am I going to run into [the bear] on my way to work? I’m like. Are people going to be safe?” she wondered.
Officer Thomas took the first call of the bear sighting on Saturday night.
“I’ve been on some crazy stuff, but this one was definitely out there,” he explained.
The black bear led a search group on a hunt that lasted through early Sunday morning.
“We were able to kind of follow it, we got it cornered in an area that was fenced in, and we were able to get it to climb up a tree, and we waited for wildlife to respond, DNR, and they knew exactly how to handle the situation,” Thomas added.
The Utah Department of Natural Resources officers arrived and tranquilized the bear before transporting it up to the mountains, where it was released safely.
VIDEO BELOW: Bear released into new habitat (via DWR)
Local officials want to make sure that anyone who comes in contact with a bear calls in the experts.
“Stay away and call law enforcement," said Thomas. "We’ll get it handled.”
