Published: 14:11 BST, 13 October 2022 | Updated: 14:22 BST, 13 October 2022
A giant brown bear has been sedated and dragged from under a house in Colorado while trying to hibernate there for the winter.
The 400-pound beast needed an arrow and five rangers before it could be taken off the deck in Durango on Wednesday.
Comedic footage shows Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees struggling to lug the 10-year-old behemoth out of its lair and into their truck to move.
It was later zapped with a “reversal drug” that counteracted the anesthetic, and it quickly ran off to find a new place to sleep.
A 400-pound brown bear dubbed “Durango” was found under a house in Durango, Colorado. The 10-year-old bear was shot with a tranquilizer dart and five rangers had to help remove him
The bear, dubbed “Durango,” was spotted by aggrieved residents on Hermosa Avenue in the city.
They called Colorado Parks and Wildlife, who rushed to the scene and said it was “one of the largest male bears we’ve ever seen in town.”
Rangers shot the bear with a stun dart before slipping a blue tarp under him to help clear him from the site.
It took five rangers to move Durango and a video posted by CPW shows the men stopping regularly to adjust and rest.
Rangers had to slide a tarp under the stunned bear to drag him off the property. It was later given a reversal drug and quickly established before being released 60 miles away
The bear was later given a “reversal drug” to “counter the effects of the tranquilizer” and Durango “quickly came to.”
Rangers then moved the bear to a new home 60 miles away that was a more “suitable bear habitat, [had] good food and where you are unlikely to encounter any hunters this season.’
Durango also underwent a health check and was equipped with a microchip and ear tags for further monitoring.
CPW would like to thank the community for reporting the situation and helping to ensure that ‘the safety’ of both the animal and residents is paramount.
The fat bear was preparing for hibernation when he decided to sleep under the house
“While we haven’t had to treat many bears in the Durango city limits this year, it highlights the importance of removing attractants around your home, as bears seem to pile up before going to sleep in the winter,” CPW wrote.
CPW advised residents to “pick up fallen fruit, secure waste and remove bird feeders,” as bears want to fatten up for the winter.
“You really don’t want a bear of this size in your yard,” the agency wrote.
It is estimated that there are 17,000 to 20,000 bears in Colorado Colorado Outdoors Magazine .
The magazine also mentioned that 51 bears had to be moved and 66 euthanized by 2021. Data for 2022 is not yet available.
CPW advised residents to “pick up fallen fruit, secure waste and remove bird feeders,” as bears want to fatten up for the winter. “You really don’t want a bear of this size in your yard,” the agency said
There are an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 bears in Colorado