Update: Verona Bear, 100 Pound Female, Captured and Relocated

A black bear that had been foraging in the Afterglow section of Verona this week was captured and identified as an 18-month-old female weighing 100 lbs., according to Verona Police officials.

The bear was caught by State Conservation Officers with the assistance of Verona Police and Fire Department members and taken to a state forest to be released, police said.

Verona Police issued an advisory Saturday morning saying, "Catching this bear doesn't mean that you should no longer be alert to hazards when outdoors."

The bear caught in Verona and one caught in Montclair earlier this month, are two of possibly three bears reported in the area in recent weeks, police said.

Verona Police chased the bear through the Afterglow residential neighborhood Friday night and contained it once it climbed up a tree until the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife came on the scene to help capture it. 

Jeff Stiefbold, an avid photographer who lives in Caldwell, rushed to the area when he heard about the black bear sighting near the intersection of Afterglow and Sunset avenues, on the border of Montclair.

Stiefbold said police were monitoring the bear and had their guns drawn as a precaution while it proceeded briskly through the residential neighborhood. 

"I thought the Verona Police did an outstanding job keeping everyone around the area protected," Stiefbold said, adding that a crowd had assembled to observe the bear. "It’s going to end well. I’m very happy with the job the Verona Police did."

Stiefbold said he was able to get several shots of the bear who at one point was right outside his car. 

"It was exciting for me to get a picture of the bear," he said.

Earlier this month, the Division of Game and Wildlife tranquilized a black bear cub that ran up a tree in a small Montclair park. The bear fell out of the tree into a net and was relocated to a state reservation. 

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