Colorado firefighters helped rescue a tranquilized 350-pound bear after it climbed a tree in a residential neighborhood and fell asleep 25 feet off the ground.
West Metro crews were initially contacted at 9 a.m. Saturday after the male bear scaled a tree in the back yard of a home in Lakewood, KCNC-TV reports. Before the bear could be pulled down from the tree, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers had to wait 12 hours until the animal descended the tree enough to be brought down with a tranquilizer.
But instead of falling to the ground, the bear fell unconscious in the tree and became stuck 25 feet up in the air. That's when firefighters devised "a high point anchor system in the tree where the bear was sleeping, to provide a controlled and safe descent to the ground," the department stated in an online update.
"A West Metro firefighter and an officer with Parks and Wildlife climbed up to secure the bear to the rope system," added the department, which captured video and photos of the rescue.
Once on the ground, the bear eventually was relocated to the Pike-San Isabel National Forest.
