The large black bear seen sniffing around the College Park MARTA station Monday morning, days after it was spotted outside the Fulton County Jail, is on its way to northeast Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The bear was found by officials with the state agency wandering in the area of the MARTA station and tranquilized. He is being transported for release somewhere he won’t have as ready access to trashcans and potted plants.
When he was a Fulton County local, those seemed to be his favorite neighborhood spots to nosh.
“Darting or trapping a bear is considered a last resort to remove the animal from a particular location,” said Melissa Cummings, spokeswoman for the Georgia DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division. The process can be difficult, and it can be stressful for the animal, she said.
“The best-case scenario is for the animal to move out on its own.”
The bear was spotted around 6:15 a.m. Monday in the south rail yard at the MARTA station. No riders at the station were in danger, a spokeswoman for the transit agency said.
Cummings said it is likely the bear is the same one that was seen on video surveillance meandering outside the Fulton County jail in northwest Atlanta on Friday morning.
RELATED: Bear spotted outside Fulton County Jail
The bear “investigated trashcans, planters, and approached the front door before wandering away,” Fulton sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.
College Park police had been getting calls about the bear, which Lt. Gerald Riser said never approached any populated areas or presented danger to residents.
“We've had sightings all over the city of this same bear,” Riser told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s stretched from Old National to Main Street to the East Point line.”
The bear had been spotted behind hotels, likely rooting out some discarded grub.
While Riser said this was the first bear he can recall in his two decades in College Park, it’s not surprising for the DNR to get reports of bears outside their traditional range this time of year, according to the state agency.
They are native to the North Georgia mountains, but in the spring, most bears seen outside of the region are young male bears looking to make a start and establish their territory.
“However, in some cases it may be sows with cubs or other mature bears venturing into new territory in search of a home and a steady source of food,” Cummings said. “If left alone, bears typically will return to established bear range.”
It’s likely area residents won’t see this particular bear again, but Cummings said the best thing to do in the event of another bear sighting is to make sure there are no available attractants. Those are things the bear may consider food, like trash, pet food or bird seed. If no food is in the area, the bear will continue to move back to more appropriate habitat.
To report a sighting, contact your nearby Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division Game Management Office. For the the metro Atlanta office, call 770-918-6416.
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