A black bear that was spotted up in a tree in Newton above the westbound side of the Mass Pike early Sunday was shot and killed by police after a failed effort to capture the animal.
Neighbors in the area of Washington Street and Eddy Street in Newton said they woke this morning to a "commotion" as state and Environmental Police failed to get the bear down without incident.
According to police, the bear was spotted before 6:30 a.m. by mile marker 126 on the Mass Pike, near Washington Street and the Shaw's Market overpass in Newton.
"There were many animal control and police officers so I felt safe," said local resident Adriana Bauza, who encountered the scene during her morning run. "The bear was quite large, bigger than five fee. It climbed and was high up on a young tree. It was at the top of the tree and the limbs were not strong enough to hold it."
After numerous efforts to tranquilize and catch the bear were unsuccessful, state troopers stopped traffic for several minutes while Environmental Police "neutralized" the bear and removed it from the scene, a police statement said.
It was unclear where the bear came from.
Nearly two weeks ago, a black bear was spotted in Weston and Lincoln.
Last year, a bear that apparently wintered in the Middleboro area was spotted in Plymouth and all the way out to Truro, where it was captured. It was moved to central Massachusetts, but then was spotted int Brookline, after which it was moved out to western Massachusetts.
Copyright 2013 - Boston Herald
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
