Granada Hills bear evaded police all day despite 4 tranquilizer darts

The 150-pound black bear that evaded police in Granada Hills for roughly 12 hours Tuesday before its capture was able to do so despite being hit with four tranquilizer darts, a state wildlife official said.

The bear, which scurried from a school, across several yards and into a golf course Tuesday morning, was under brief observation before being released deep into Los Padres National Forest on Wednesday, said Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The fact that the such a small bear was able to scurry and hide for so long despite the four tranquilizer darts made the daylong scene all the more incredible, he said.

“That bear did not want to go down,” Hughan said, adding that the juvenile bear was basically like a “big, strong kid.”

The bear was eventually spotted Tuesday evening by golfers who heard rustling in “really thick” juniper bushes at the Knollwood Golf Course, Hughan said.

The bear was finally captured shortly after 8 p.m., after which it was loaded into the back of a pickup truck and taken to the Los Padres National Forest. As of Wednesday morning, the bear was “fine, happy and healthy” before being let out of a temporary holding cage, Hughan said.

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jason.wells@latimes.com

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