Wayward black bear surprises Rehoboth students

Bear visits area school: ABOVE: A black bear peers intensely from a tree while in the small community of Rehoboth, NM. A Rehoboth Department of Transportation worker Darryl Holtsoi reported the animal. The bear was eventually tranquilized and removed from the community. It was relocated in the Mt. Taylor area near Grants N.M. The green tags on the bear's ear meant that it had been captured twice in previous incidents. Officials estimated the bear weighed about 250 pounds. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

Sheriff Deputy Tom Mumford and other officials kept a close eye on a black bear that was reported in the small community of Rehoboth, N.M. Friday night. The bear was eventually tranquilized and removed from the community. The bear would have been shot if it had attempted to climb down the tree before tranquilization. It was relocated in the Mt. Taylor area near Grants N.M. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

REHOBOTH — Department of Game and Fish officials tranquilized and relocated a black bear that wandered into the Rehoboth community Friday evening.

The 350-pound visitor climbed into a tree located within the Rehoboth community at about 7 p.m. on Friday while a group of Rehoboth Christian School students watched in awe.

Darryl Holtsoi, the director of transportation for Rehoboth Christian School, said he’d just returned from transporting middle school students to and from a school-sponsored activity in Ramah when he noticed the animal had strayed into the area and was checking out a nearby Dumpster.

“It was a pretty big bear,” Holtsoi said.

He said he documented the incident through photographs and video. However, his priority was to ensure the safety of the students and nearby residents.

“We tried to control the public and rope off the area,” Holtsoi said.

He immediately called 9-1-1 to alert officials of the bear’s presence. Operators subsequently dispatched sheriff’s deputies, state police and Department of Game and Fish official Mark Bundren to the scene.

Officials then worked to gather a cage and sedatives to apprehend the bear that was resting in a “branchy” tree.

Holtsoi said officials attempted to tranquilize the animal, but the first dart missed the bear and struck a branch. He said local animal control officers traveled to the scene to provide Bundren with additional sedative to tranquilize the bear a second time. The second attempt was successful and the bear was tranquilized without further incident.

At about midnight , the bear was then relocated to a remote area near Mount Taylor. Holtsoi said he was told that the bear had already been relocated once from Albuquerque to Mount Taylor almost two weeks ago.

“He traveled a long distance,” Holtsoi said of the bear who had several identification tags in both its ears.

Jim Bostic, the maintenance supervisor for Rehoboth Christian School, said livestock officials told him the tags signified the bear had wondered into a public place before.

Bostic said many spectators gathered around the tree to watch the night’s events unfold.

“It was the big talk of the campus,” he said. “ ... It was like a spectator sport.”

Bostic said the bear did not act aggressively and was more afraid of the surrounding people than anything else.

“The bear didn’t want to be there,” he said.