PHOTOS: State Officials Tranquilize Young Black Bear in Greenwich [UPDATE] [VIDEO]

Update 12:00 a.m.

With a Greenwich Police motorcycle escort, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials left Chickahominy with the sedated cub loaded in the bed of a pickup truck to an undisclosed location in Connecticut.

While officials worked to tranquilize the cub, estimated to be about 70 pounds, neighbors and local business owners gathered at the end of the driveway of 151 Hamilton Ave., craning their necks in hopes of getting a glimpse of the bear. Some residents' concerns that officers would kill the bear were allayed when told the bear would be tranquilized.

At one point, a knot of police officers chatted about how some residents seemed nonplussed by warnings to stay inside until officials corralled the bruin. "There was a woman walking down the street with this small baby in her arms," one officer said incredulously.

Laurie Roloff of Stone Avenue, about three blocks from the scene, said she missed seeing the bear walking along a stone ledge in the rear of her home, as witnessed by her neighbor. She said she heeded police advice not to let Toto, her Tibetan terrier, roam outdoors. She stopped by the scene with Toto on a leash.

The officers also discussed enticing the bear to stay put until DEEP officials arrived rather than troll the area in search of food. Indeed, there was a ubiquitous white, orange and pink Dunkin Donuts box sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard of 151 Hamilton Ave.

Shortly after 2:20 p.m., the faint repercussion of the tranquilizer gun being fired in a brushy area on the south side of the backyard could be heard.

A police officer who spent nearly 6 hours at the scene said environmental officials determined the cub was a female.

Update 3:04 p.m.

The bear was removed from Greenwich. Officials had the animal swaddled in a dark blanket, so it was difficult to photograph, but you can make out the shape of the animal in the featured photo with this article.

Update 2:40 p.m.

According to Lt. Kraig Gray, public information officer with the Greenwich Police Department, the bear was tranquilized at about 2:30 p.m. and the matter now is in the hands of the state.

"The bear had no contact with any citizens or domestic animals," Gray said. "The police department basically isolated and contained the bear, and the DEEP took over the investigation."

The bear had been in a tree when it was tranquilized, and fell out of that tree when the dart hit home, Patch has learned. Officials now are deciding just how to remove the animal from the crowded area.

Update 2:22 p.m.

A DEEP officer has removed a colored tranquilizer gun from the team's equipment truck.

Update 2:18 p.m.

DEEP officials are removing their tranquilizing equipment from the truck (see photo). News helicopters are hovering over Chickahominy.

Update 2:04 p.m.

At least four state officials from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection now are on scene.

Update 1:54 p.m.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection tranquilizer team has arrived at 151 Hamilton Ave. Two others from the agency have been on scene since Wednesday morning. According to Capt. Mark Kordick, the bear is approximately 70 pounds.

Original Story

A black bear lounging in a densely populated Greenwich neighborhood is prompting a state conservation team to come to town and tranquilize the animal so it can be released somewhere upstate, officials say.

A team is on its way to Hamilton Avenue in Greenwich to tranquilize what appears to be a young bear, according to Dwayne Gardner, a spokesman with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

"We're not sure what sex it is and won't know until we tranquilize it, but we will relocate the animal," Gardner told Patch.

According to neighbors in Chickahominy, which borders downtown Greenwich immediately to the west, the bear was seen last night in Armstrong Court public housing complex, possibly an adult bear as well as the cub.

The call reporting the bear came in at 9:08 a.m. Wednesday. The bear now is in the backyard of a home at 151 Hamilton Ave. (see map), where there's a police cruiser parked in the driveway with two more in the street nearby. One neighbor who lives just three blocks away on Stone Avenue said that the bear had been roaming through yards on her street in the morning.

Greenwich public schools officials confirmed that nearby has not let kids outside today.

According to schools spokesperson Kim Eves, Greenwich police phoned in the morning to say that there was a bear in the area.

Officials are monitoring the situation. Hamilton Avenue School is scheduled to let kids out at 2:45 p.m.

"We are waiting for instructions from police on dismissal," Eves said.

A conservation officer is scene now, awaiting the tranquilizing unit, Gardner said. The bear's presence in town is unusual, he said.

"It's not frequent that we see bears down in that part of the state," he said.

The bear will be released in a state park in northwest or northeast Connecticut, "away from people," he said.

"Really we just relocate the bear," Gardner said. "If it's old enough to be on its own, as apparently this bear is, then we are not concerned about its survival."

This is not the first time black bears were reported here. Just two weeks ago, town conservation officials confirmed that . At the time, Conservation Directory Denise Savageau said, "We wouldn’t necessarily find them on Greenwich Avenue." Greenwich Avenue is about 1 mile away from where the bear is lounging.

was arrested on May 14 after he shot and killed a 450-pound black bear rummaging for food in his garage and backyard. He was charged with illegally killing a black bear — a misdemeanor — and criminal possession of a firearm — a felony.

Here's a user-submitted photo from one month ago of a black bear walking across a Newtown Patch user's back deck in that town.

It's been quite a year for . The town is fast-approaching the 1-year anniversary of an .