Game and Fish officer kills bear charging other officer

TUCSON — The Arizona Game and Fish Department says one of its officers shot and killed a bear charging another officer in a wash next to a golf course in foothills overlooking Tucson.

Department spokesman Mark Hart says the officers located the bear Wednesday after it was seen repeatedly in recent days in yards and other places in the Tucson area and on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Hart says the bear previously was relocated from Greer in eastern Arizona to a remote location north of Globe and that its history and behaviors in populated areas regrettably dictated that it be put down.

Hart says the bear’s charging the officer “made it a clear cut decision.”

He says a necropsy indicated the bear had been eating food discarded by people.