Bear Found In Dangerous Situation In New York, Tranquilized Twice

Why is this bear wearing a COVID mask in 2025? Truth is, this big guy found himself in a dangerous situation so New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officers had to tranquilize him. Not once but twice.

Why was this bear in danger? Why did DEC officers have to tranquilize him twice? We will answer those questions and more below. We will also tell you that this story does have a happy ending.

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On Sunday October 5th, DEC Officer Plows received a call from the Village of Pleasantville Police Department in Westchester County. The police officers were requesting assistance with a bear in a highly populated area.

As exciting as it is to see a bear in your backyard, the last thing you and I, or even the bear wants is for the bear to become accustomed to humans while seeking out human-provided food, which increases the frequency of human-bear encounters, including car vs. bear accidents.

Officer Plows responded and attempted multiple techniques to encourage the bear to leave the area but was unsuccessful. DEC Officers Tompkins, Walraven, Wamsley, and Lieutenant Lattimer also responded to the location with appropriate gear to transport the animal, which was now hiding in a tree near the Saw Mill River Parkway.

According to a press release, the bear left the tree after being tranquilized by a Westchester County contractor and ran into a large swamp near the parkway, seemingly unaffected.

The bear was tracked and watched until it could safely be sedated a second time, and the tranquilizer took effect. The responding DEC Officers quickly prepped the bear for transport, carried it to a transport trailer, and successfully relocated the bear to a more suitable area where it was released without incident within hours of the initial dart.