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Bear spotted in Sandy Springs neighborhood caught, tranquilized

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A black bear spotted roaming a north Fulton neighborhood has been captured.

Sandy Springs Fire Department said they received a call from a homeowner Thursday to report the bear. The department found the animal nearby and contacted the Department of Natural Resources.

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Crews were able to safely tranquilize the bear and relocate it back to a more natural environment.

Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. Yesterday a concerned homeowner in Sandy Springs called 911 to report a black...

Posted by Sandy Springs Fire Department on Friday, July 2, 2021

Sandy Springs neighbors have reported several bear sightings in the area over the last two weeks.

Becky Poole told Channel 2 Action News that she was babysitting a boy at a home along Devonwood Drive when she said the boy spotted the bear in the backyard.

“I was fixing his lunch, we had just come in and he said, ‘bear.’ And I turned around and sure enough there was a big black bear walking in front of the window and I couldn’t believe it,” Poole said.

Tequilla Hill-Allen’s surveillance camera was rolling Monday when a bear came into her yard.

“He wasn’t afraid of humans, just walking around people,” Hill-Allen said.

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“It’s really real here. We are in the country even though it’s Sandy Springs,” Chad Artimovich, who runs Atlanta Wildlife Solutions, said. “It’s my opinion that the bears are coming down here because of a lack of suitable habitat with all the subdivisions being built.”

Artimovich said the bears are foraging for food in target-rich environments like Sandy Springs because homeowners make it easy for them.

“They can easily get a meal from the garbage, people’s gardens, bird feeders,” Artimovich said.

Artimovich said if you encounter a bear, do not approach it and immediately call the Department of Natural Resources.