Black bear makes surprise appearance at MARTA station during morning commute

ATLANTA — A large black bear was tranquilized and is now heading to the North Georgia mountains after it was trapped at the College Park MARTA station on Monday.

Wildlife officials told Channel 2 Action News that it's the same bear that was spotted last week near the Fulton County Jail.

"Oh, my goodness," said MARTA rider Stephanie Hunter. "I would have been like, ‘It's time to go.’"

MARTA rider Markese Ryland said he’d have been appalled and shocked.

Hunter and Ryland were responding to the news that they had missed the excitement Monday morning, when a large black bear was spotted near station tracks. It happened around 6:15 a.m.

Workers said the College Park MARTA station was evacuated for a few minutes.

TRENDING STORIES:

"Initially, I would be speechless," Ryland said. "I mean, my wife does catch the MARTA with my daughter, often, so that would be scary."

Officials with the Department of Natural Resources said, that at this time of year, it's not unusual to see bears outside their normal range.

They may be young bears looking for their own territory.

The department said the best thing you can do is make sure there is nothing to attract the bears to stay. That way, they keep moving.

"Now it's happened so we can say we had a bear in College Park," Hunter said.

The DNR said the bear will be safely released into the North Georgia mountains, so he will back in his natural habitat.

Cox Media Group