UPDATE: Officials trap bear and release it east of Redding

Update: 7:30 a.m., Tuesday

That elusive bear that was holed up in a storm drain in south Redding was trapped early this morning and then released in a remote area east of the city, the California Highway Patrol reported on its Facebook page.

The bear was trapped around 12:30 a.m. The animal came out of the culvert and walked into a large cage with apples inside that had been placed at the culvert's opening.

CHP officers then notified state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials who took the bear to a large ranch with hundreds of acres of open space, the CHP said.

The bear had been been hiding inside the storm drain since early Monday morning.

"It's possible the bear could have been displaced by the several fires in the area," the CHP said in its post.

Original story

There's still no sight of the elusive bear that is holed up in a storm drain in south Redding. But there's only one way out for the animal, California Department of Fish and Wildlife wildlife biologist Pete Figura said. The only other opening in the culvert, which is located several blocks away, has been closed off.

Figura said he expects the bear to become more active in the evening. "We can't predict when. A lot of times bears just lay low during the day," he said.

A male black bear estimated to weigh between 200 to 300 pounds was tracked and seen going into a culvert off Interstate 5 around 6:30 a.m. on Monday after police received phone calls of a bear running around the area of Hilltop Drive at Commerce Street just about an hour earlier.

A large cage with apples inside to entice the bear out of the culvert was placed against its 3-foot-wide opening, but it could be hours before the bear might go for the bait, officials said, adding the bear may have gone deep into the culvert for a nap.

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Officers initially found the bear in the area of Larkspur Lane and East Cypress Avenue and followed the animal as it headed south toward Hartnell Avenue, police reported on Facebook.

Police said the bear went on to the Rother School campus and was last seen going into a culvert off Interstate 5 underneath Churn Creek Road south of The Fly Shop. 

"The bear was clearly scared and not aggressive towards people and/or other animals that it encountered," Redding police posted on Facebook.

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Figura said although Redding does have bears living around the outer edges of  the city, it's unusual to see one in more populated regions. 

"Around the fringes of Redding and the greenbelts, bears are regular. But it just seems like every few years we get a bear in the more urban parts,"  said Figura, who added that in years past, bears have been spotted in the area behind WinCo Foods and even in downtown Redding. 

On Monday, Redding police turned the case over to the California Highway Patrol after the bear was able to somehow get onto Interstate 5 and began walking southbound on the shoulder of its northbound lanes.

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The CHP said the bear also wandered into traffic lanes but was fortunately not hit by any motorists and then sought shelter in the long drainage culvert off the freeway.

"He's just lost," CHP Sgt. Tim Hinkson said.

Workers with the California Department of Transportation and a  biologist and others with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife were called to the scene as they tried to figure out how to safely capture the bear.

"He's been chased hard," Hinkson said.

While it's not known where the bear came from, Figura could not rule out that it might have been displaced by the recent Carr Fire and is looking for a new place in which to live.

"It's certainly possible," he said.

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