On Sept. 16 the Colorado State University Police Department and Colorado Parks and Wildlife team responded to reports of a bear in a tree on the north end of The Oval near Ammons Hall.

Brandon Muller, an assistant area wildlife manager for CPW, said they started receiving calls about the bear in Old Town throughout the night, and then it made its way to CSU’s campus around 6:30-7:30 a.m., where it climbed up a tree. The bear was safely tranquilized, removed from the tree and relocated.

Muller said although CPW looked for opportunities to let the bear leave naturally, they chose to tranquilize and relocate it for the safety of the bear itself and the people near the area.

Additionally, Muller said CSUPD was first on the scene and coordinated with CPW by setting up a perimeter to keep people away and keep the bear calm.

“CSUPD was instrumental (in) … keeping everybody away from the bear; helping us keep him in the tree; keeping him calm; keeping everybody safe, including the bear safe, and everybody at a safe distance,” Muller said.

Muller said the bear’s presence was “not surprising,” and “bears are in their hyperphagia; they’re trying to eat up to 20,000 calories a day to try to put on that fat to make it through the winter, when they go into their hibernation.”