Athens Police Chief Wayne Harper said he is sorry that a black bear had to be killed in Athens Saturday night and he hopes the action can be avoided if another bear appears.

Meanwhile, the Alabama Wildlife Federation held a conference call Monday morning with state game and fish officials to try to find a better way of dealing with bears in the future rather than killing them, said Daniel Powell, a volunteer with the Alabama Black Bear Alliance, which is part of the AWF.

“They will be working to improve – it is an opportunity for them,” Powell said.

The 230- to 300-pound black bear shot Saturday was first captured in Florida in 2007 as an 80-pound juvenile and moved to forested area there. It was recaptured six months later and relocated to a forest in Georgia. From there it crossed into Alabama and showed up Aug. 3 in the Cotaco area of Morgan County. A wildlife official there saw the bear’s green ear tags and notified the Bear Alliance and Florida officials. The bear crossed the Tennessee River and showed up in Sue Cooper’s yard in the west Athens subdivision of Vestavia Friday night.

Without a tranquilizer to sedate the animal Saturday night, city animal-control officers, police officers, fish and game officers, including Travis Gray, were afraid the bear might harm someone in the heavily populated subdivision, Harper said. Gray shot the bear with a shotgun.

Johnny Johnson, of the District 1 State Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, Law Enforcement Section, said “the officers made a decision to kill. It is not something we like to do, but if it is a public safety concern, the bear is going to lose.”

When Cooper heard the gunshot Saturday night, she knew how it ended, and she was furious with Gray, who had told her when she first reported seeing the bear Friday night that he wanted to sedate, trap and move the bear to a refuge in Attalla.

Still, other residents were afraid the bear might hurt someone.

“I hate that it happened,” Harper said. “But Vestavia is a densely populated subdivision and there were a lot of people out that night. Some came out just to try to see the bear, so it was not a good situation. Certainly, we want to try to handle it with the least amount of harm to wild animals – if we can.”

To that end, he promised that animal-control officers would be more prepared in the future if a bear or another large animal, such as a bull, wanders into a neighborhood.

Police have already contacted local veterinarian Dr. Robert Pitman about having a large-animal sedative available when needed.

Cooper said Pitman told her he was asked Saturday night to prepare a sedative for the bear but no one came to pick it up as planned. After waiting an hour, he told her he twice called police dispatch to say the sedative was ready. However, by then the bear had been shot, she said. Harper confirmed that the bear started coming down from the tree and was shot before the tranquilizer could be picked up and brought to the scene.

Some Athens residents have questioned why game wardens did not ask Pitman or another veterinarian for a sedative after the bear was first seen Friday night. It was then seen again twice Saturday morning and again Saturday evening.

Harper said animal-control officers would work with Pitman in the future to deal with large animals visits.

“We got in contact with him, so that in the future we can get some serum if it ever happens again,” Harper said. “There is a lot of wildlife in the area – horses, bulls, deer – that could get in a house or go where there are a lot of people around.”

Harper said he is aware that some people are upset that the bear was killed and that some believe the situation could have been avoided.

“I can understand that, and so, hopefully, we can be a little bit prepared in the future.”

Powell said people often overreact to bears, though he did say it is not safe to feed bears or allow them to become used to people. That is when people get hurt, he said. He believes the bear could have been sedated and moved elsewhere. He said he is part of a quick-response team that moves bears in South Alabama, where bears are more common.

He said the number of black bears is increasing in the state and that we may see another one here. He believes a team should be set up here in case that happens and that fish and game workers need to know who to contact for help.

“They didn’t have a tranquilizer and couldn’t get it and when the bear was coming down the tree, they fell back into 1850s mode and shot it,” Powell said. “Historically, humans are scared of big predators and, although some have outgrown it, a lot of people still feel that way. What would have been great is if they could have caught it so we could put a tracking collar on it.”