St. Paul: Black bear in Frogtown killed by police

[azurnoir]

St. Paul police shot and killed a black bear Sunday, April 29, in the Frogtown neighborhood, a police spokesman said.

Residents called police to the 500 block of West Charles Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Officers followed the bear three blocks north to West Lafond Avenue, where the bear climbed a tree. Officers set up a perimeter and waited until the bear to descend. At 1:30 a.m., the bear left the tree and was killed.

Sgt. Paul Paulos said officers coordinated with the Department of Natural Resources on the option of tranquilizing the bear. The DNR advised to kill the bear because of unknowns in the proper dose needed to tranquilize the bear and reprecussions if not properly subdued.

"This was clearly a public safety issue for the community," Paulos said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1059


eta Charles Ave is the second street going north from University Ave and the 500 block is 5 blocks west of Rice Street not far from where the police tear gassed people in a Sears parking lot during the 2008 GOP convention

[Bjorn Against]

1. I never heard of a bear sighting in Saint Paul before

Last edited Tue May 1, 2012, 10:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Bear sightings in the Twin Cities are extremely rare, generally bears are only seen in the northern part of the state. I do remember hearing about some bear sightings in Lebanon Hills Park in the Eagan/Apple Valley area a couple of years ago and I thought that was strange but at least that is a fairly undeveloped area, I have never heard of a bear sighting right in the middle of the city before.

[azurnoir]

3. Not the first time

12/18/11

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Police have shot and killed a bear that wandered into a neighborhood near downtown St. Paul.

St. Paul Police Department spokesman Howie Padilla says police received at least two calls about bear sightings in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday. He says officers shot the bear just before 8 p.m. Animal control officers took the bear’s body away.

The area is south of Interstate 94 and east of downtown near the Mississippi River.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/12/18/police-kill-bear-near-downtown-st-paul/


5/20/11

A black bear was shot and killed early Friday morning after it was spotted wandering through a residential neighborhood in North St. Paul.

Police received a call from a resident around 4:50 a.m. that a bear was running around near the intersection of Henry Street and 2nd Avenue. Officers responded and followed the bear as it traveled across Highway 120 and into the city of Oakdale.

http://www.kare11.com/rss/article/923886/14/Wandering-bear-shot-and-killed-in-St-Paul-suburbs

[Bjorn Against]

4. I did not hear about that one, it was fairly recent too

It looks like bears may be beginning to work their way south, maybe we will start seeing them more frequently. Hopefully they can train animal control on how to handle this better, they should have been able to tranqualize these bears and move them a ways north of the city, there was no reason these bears needed to die.

[emmadoggy]

5. Two summers ago, there was a bear

traveling in the LaCrosse, WI area and then down into northeast Iowa. At one point, it was spotted very near my home (in the northeast corner of IA). Not sure what happened to him.

There have also been sporadic reports of cougars in this area.

[Bjorn Against]

6. Cougars are a bit more common in southern Minnesota

One of my friends was actually chased by a cougar when he was biking near Mankato. Thankfully that is not a common occurance as they generally leave people alone and their numbers are small, but they are more common in the southern part of the state than bears are.

[kickysnana]

2. Sorry, bear. Cowardly stewards could have at least tried to sedate and move the bear.

I remember when we used to do things in MN the best way not the easiest.

[trotsky]

8. On this case I will gladly defer to the DNR.

Not knowing the proper tranquilizer dose could have either killed the bear too, or far worse - made it angry or disoriented and caused it to attack a person.

Tragic story but I think this was handled in the best way possible.

[kickysnana]

9. I don't need police state mems sent back to me on this. DNR was ruined under Pawlenty.

Knew a lot of folks that used to work there who said just that. They all quit when he was reelected.

This was not a rampaging bear and if they hand anyone with an ounce of sense they could have managed this.
My kids grew up just south of there. The folks there are not suburban folks. They would be more afraid of the possibility of a rogue policeman or a new drug dealer targeting the area or high or jonesing suburban youths looking for quick money thinking they could score drugs in that area. Medium black bear, no problem.

[trotsky]

10. Sorry, I guess I'm just a stupid Republican stooge...

...who thinks that even a "ruined" DNR knows a bit more about black bears than I do. Silly me.

[kickysnana]

12. Overreaction, sorry. Still feel bad about the bear.

But worse for that little two year old who died a few weeks ago slowly at home with 13 other people around from a severe beating or fall and a nasty burn.

[azurnoir]

14. Thanks for that

lot's of folks especially if they're Minneapolis oriented don't realize that with St Paul if you go from downtown in any direction about the same distance that Lake Street in Mpls is from downtown you are in a 'suburb' and if you go south your in a different county too

[Angry Dragon]

11. +2524

[annm4peace]

7. I think we need some new DNR staff

I think they should be able to figure out how to tranq some bears.

[azurnoir]

15. Definitely but the cops need some training too

the bear should not have died IMO I do wonder though how it got that far undetected and how many people saw it and said WTF is that?

[geardaddy]

13. poor bear.