Bear climbs backyard tree in San Anselmo, briefly causes shelter-in-place

Bear climbs tree in San Anselmo backyard, causes a shelter-in-place

A black bear climbed a tree in a San Anselmo backyard on Thursday, causing a neighborhood to shelter in place. The bear eventually came down on its own with some encouragement from first responders and headed out into open space.

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. - A black bear climbed a tree in a San Anselmo backyard on Thursday, causing a neighborhood to shelter-in-place. The animal eventually came down on its own and was headed for open space, officials say.

The bear sighting was first reported on the 100 block of Tamalpais Avenue near Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. Central Marin Police confirmed they were working an "animal incident" around 5 p.m. along with wildlife officials.

By 7:46 p.m. the bear had come down with the encouragement of first responders and was headed for open space near Mt. Tam, police said.

Police said after the initial shelter-in-place that the neighborhood was secured and that there was no immediate threat to the public.

Response teams sought to resolve the situation with minimal risk to the animal.

Out of abundance of caution, police urged residents to secure any outdoor trash or pet food indoors or in a closed garage for the next 24 to 48 hours. .

"If you see the bear, keep at least 100 yards away from it, do not approach the bear, and call 9-1-1," a Nixle alert read. Officials said while bear sightings are fairly common in Sonoma County, they are rare in Marin County with only two or three sightings since 2003.