Bear sighting on Shaw Drive

Police received a report of a 150 pound black bear at 47 Shaw Drive on May 8 at 9pm.  The bear was spotted by a police officer and left the area. Department of Environmental Protection Police were notified.  Black bears will normally avoid contact with humans, however it is advisable that people do not feed the bears or leave unattended food or bird feeders accessible to the bears.  Below is information from Mass Wildlife that gives information concerning the black bears.   Residents are advised to leave the animal alone should they spot a black bear and contact the police:   https://www.mass.gov/media/10606/download

Note: image is not of Wayland bear

When A Bear Is Reported In a Neighborhood

Local and State Police Departments—If a bear is sighted in town, advise callers to leave the animal alone. Remind pet owners to keep their dogs under control. Keep crowds away and avoid following the animal. Pursuit not only stresses the animal but it adds the risk of having a bear chased out into traffic or into a group of bystanders. In most situations, the animal will fade back into the forest.

If your situation involves a bear in a densely populated area, contact the Environmental Police Radio Room at 1/800-632-8075 (24 hours) or the nearest MassWildlife office on week days during business hours to activate the Large Animal Response Team. Team members will be paged through the Radio Room and will contact your department to assess the situation.

To protect the lives of people and wildlife, MassWildlife and the Environmental Police formed an interagency Large Animal Response Team (LART) to respond to situations where bear are discovered in heavily human populated areas. The team members consist of MassWildlife biologists and Environmental Police Officers with specific training in chemical immobilization of large animals, primarily bear and moose.

Municipalities and other law enforcement agencies can activate this team by calling the 24 hour Environmental Police Radio Room at 1/800-632-8075 or calling the closest MassWildlife offices during business hours. Depending on the situation, members of the team will provide anything from technical advice to responding to the scene. If it’s determined the LAR Team needs to be at the scene, members will be paged and they will coordinate efforts with local/state police, animal control officers, MassHighways and local public works departments to ensure safety for the public as well as the animal involved.

There are 4 options available to wildlife professionals when dealing with suburban or urban bear situations.

  1. Keeping tabs on the animal from a distance, or “baby-sitting” as it is sometimes called, is often all that is needed to allow the bear to move on. Usually the job becomes more public relations than public safety as officers try to keep people away from the bear.
  2. Trying to encourage the bear to go in a specific direction by using hazing techniques.
  3. If the animal becomes confined to tree, chemical immobilants may be used if the situation warrants this action. Trained staff from MassWildlife and/or the Environmental Police will be on hand to exercise this option.
  4. The last resort, when an immediate threat to public safety exists, is to destroy the bear with a firearm. This is rarely used as an option.

For more detail see the “Frequently Asked Questions” on black bear problems and control.

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