Scientists working at the National Institutes of Health are usually concerned with problems like infectious disease and brain development. Yesterday, they were concerned with a black bear who found its way onto their campus.
According to Bethesda Magazine, black bears have been making themselves more and more visible in Montgomery County. The NIH intruder marked the fifth bear sighting this week alone (though several sightings could have been of the same bear). When the bear was first sighted, wildlife officials used noisemakers to scare it out of a tree, where it could be safely tranquilized and relocated. They succeeded in chasing it out of the tree, but the bear decided to relocate itself to a pine tree on the NIH campus – bypassing the campus’s security fence, which was built after 9/11 – in Bethesda, Maryland.
By mid-day, the @NIH_Bear had its own twitter account.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/479654966999920641
https://twitter.com/embed/status/479657203100422144
https://twitter.com/embed/status/479663940021288960
https://twitter.com/embed/status/479664182347202561
https://twitter.com/embed/status/479699457953767424
Four hours after wandering on the NIH campus, wildlife officials managed to successfully tranquilize the bear, who was relocated to more appropriate bear territory in the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area near the Potomac River.
@NIH_bear in custody. To be released near Potomac river in Montgomery Co @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/ydZn1QIIZP
— Scott Broom (@scottbroom) June 19, 2014
Here he is, shaking off the effects of the tranquilizers as the 150 pound bear woke up in his new forest home. It’s always nice when a story like this has a happy ending.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/479665552747528193
As of this morning, the NIH Bear continues to advocate for more research into bees and colony collapse disorder.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/480014676122935297
Header image: A different black bear, in a different tree (Source)
