The white kermode bear that鈥檚 been wandering Howe Creek Trail and the Lanfear Hill area has been trapped and relocated as of yesterday.

It was a healthy, juvenile male kermode, about 225 pounds, and was quite a quest to catch.

First seen on Sept. 13, the bear has been eating fruit and compost in Terrace backyards for the last week and a half, ignoring the two traps set by conservation early last week.

But finally, on Thursday morning, Sept. 21, conservation managed to tranquilize the bear and then relocate it to the wild.

They got a call at 11:47 a.m. from a homeowner on the top of Lanfear, and Terrace Conservation Officer Zane Testawhich said the bear was still hanging around by the time they arrived.

Conservation quickly mixed their tranquilizer, but the bear moved into the trees before they managed to get a shot.

Testawhich circled around the back where he caught sight of the bear, made some noise and scared the kermode into a tree, he said.

There it was tranquilized, tagged, and then relocated out of town.

鈥淗e was a good bear, just kind of eating fruit and berries,鈥� said Testawhich. 鈥淗e was into a couple composts, but he wasn鈥檛 into anybody鈥檚 garbage.鈥�

When it was relocated, the bear 鈥渨oke up, he gave us a look, and then he popped up and ran away,鈥� said Testawhich, adding that it was a beautiful bear and a cool experience.

Testawhich said he鈥檚 seen more kermodes this year than past years, and there鈥檚 been a lot more bears around in general.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just been a strange year, with the wet spring, and the late berry season, and the low fish numbers and kind of everything鈥� healthy bear population [too],鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just one of those years.鈥�

He urges people to pick their fruit, even its not ripe, because of the frequent bear issues this year.