Bear finds its way to area near Siler and Agua Fría

Game and Fish officers tranquilize animal after lunchtime encounter, are reportedly moving it to Valles Caldera

Donald Garcia was just about to step outside the front office of his auto shop, Perfection Auto Craft on Cooks Road near Agua Fría Street, around lunchtime Wednesday when he spotted something that stopped him in his tracks.

“He was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there is a bear out there,’ ” his wife, Loretta Garcia, said. “I jumped up, and sure enough — there was a brown bear.”

The Garcias called the Santa Fe Police Department and then watched out the window as police, Animal Services staff and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish officers arrived to corral the bear.

Loretta Garcia said the creature was initially on their lot, then got spooked when she tapped on the window and ran across the street toward a lot on Siler Road.

A video shot by one of the shop’s employees shows the bear pacing around inside a fenced lot as a police car blocks the entrance and makes noises — presumably to try to keep the animal inside the fence.

During the ordeal, Loretta Garcia said, she received automated emergency dispatch calls advising residents in the area to stay inside and keep their pets inside.

Another automated call around 3:30 p.m. alerted residents that the incident was over.

“He sure is a cuddly one,” she said of the bear, “but I wouldn’t want to mess with him.”

In a Facebook post, police said Game and Fish eventually tranquilized the bear. The police department thanked Animal Services staff for their help and posted a photo of two beige-clad officers kneeling with the skinny bear.

The adult male bear was about 180 pounds, the Facebook post said, adding that Game and Fish would tag and move it.

Game and Fish officers told KOB-TV the bear would be released in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

“I’m just glad the bear is safe,” Loretta Garcia said. “We don’t have too many other bears here, but you can understand with the drought and everything that he might just be hungry and thirsty.”

COURTESY LORETTA GARCIA A bear wanders Tuesday near Agua Fría Street and Siler Road. He surprised Donald and Loretta Garcia at Perfection Auto Craft around lunchtime Wednesday when they spotted him wandering in their lot.