Located in the heart of downtown Ottawa, ByWard Market is known for its unique shops, striving market place, divine cuisine as well as its exciting nightlife.
However, last week this place-to-be was not only visited by tourists and the people of Ottawa.
At around 3am on Thursday night, a 911 call was made stating that a black bear had been following around people in the market.
It seems to be that like most Canadians, this furry guy could not resist the sweet smell of BeaverTails.
In response to this call, the Ottawa police acted quickly to set up a perimeter around this fuzzy visitor, whom was supposedly found making himself at home in a tree around Dalhousie street.
A bit of an unusual start to the morning for the local police, however the bear remained quite calm and did not pose as a great danger.
In order to deter the possibility of ‘grizzliness’ from the bear, the police temporarily shut down the surrounding streets.
Although it is unclear where the bear actually came from, it’s no secret that just across the river Gatineau is home to a growing wildlife.
It would not be out of a bears nature to swim across the river and explore new heights.—Hiking from his place of origin to swimming across the canal sounds like we have a little triathlete on our hands.
However, to identify this black bear as little would be inaccurate.
The bear was supposedly 70 kilograms and between the age of 18 and 24 months.
So where is our furry friend now?
Don’t worry, the bear is happily spending its days in a more suitable habitat.
ByWard market may be known for having a wide range of activities and places to experience, but a zoo, or a national park is definitely not one of them.
Conservative officers from the National Capital Commission tranquilized the bear and gently lowered it out of the oh-so cozy home it made for itself in a tree near Dalhousie.
He was then transported to the Lanark area forest, as was reported by the NCC to be in excellent shape when released to his new home.
In order to keep track of our friendly furry friend, the bear now wears a yellow earring as a method of identification if he is recaptured.
The buzz about ByWard’s furry friend has blown up on social media.
Someone created a twitter account for the bear, and to this day it has reached over 1,000 followers.
It is refreshing to see that as Canadians, we were able to find humour in a situation that at any point could turn into a series of unfortunate events.
Although the visit from our furry friend was short lived, he will always be remembered as our friend, the ByWard bear.