Smarter Than the Average Bear?

A 300-pound black bear wandered down suburban streets, played on a high school football field and crossed the freeway three times before he was caught and tranquilized on Sunday.

A three-year-old black bear that had been wandering through La Crescenta on Sunday morning has been tranquilized and is being transported back to the Angeles National Forest, officials said.

The bear was first spotted on Henrietta Ave. in La Crescenta at about 7:20 a.m. Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lt. Angela Shepherd said.

It wandered on to the Crescenta Valley High School football field, crossed the 210 freeway three times and then went south into the community of Montrose, where officials of the California Department of Fish and Game caught up with the animal and tranquilized it, Shepherd said.

The bear caused no injuries or property damage, she said. Like other bears during this hot, dry summer, it probably came out of the forest to look for food, Shepherd said.

Officials have not yet said whether the bear is male or female. It will be tagged so it will be recognizeable if it comes back down from the forest again.

Another bear, dubbed "Meatball" by some and "Glenbearian" by others, has been taken to an animal sanctuary because it repeatedly came down into suburban neighborhoods.

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