Bear tranquillized after wandering into Ottawa's ByWard Market

Conservation officers have tranquillized a bear that wandered into Ottawa's downtown ByWardMarket neighbourhood after police shut down streets to deal with the furry visitor.

Police set up a perimeteraround a "full-size black bear" sitting calmly in a tree in the market, around Dalhousie and Murray streets, and were asking people to avoid the area.

The person who called 911 at about 3:20 a.m. ET said the bear had been following people.

After tranquillizing the bear, conservation officers fromthe National Capital Commission lowered it out of the tree on a ropewith the help of firefighters.

The male bear, a 70-kilogram juvenile between 18 and 24 months old,was carriedinto a portable container and transported to a wooded area outside the city.

TheNCCsaid it didn't know from which direction the bear had come, or how it apparently made it into the heart of the city before it was spotted.

Roads reopened shortly after the bear was removed.

On Thursday afternoon theNCCconfirmed the bear had been tagged and released in "excellent shape."

In another incident this week,a bear was also spotted in the area around the Gatineau Hospital on Wednesday, leading police to ask people to stay inside as experts worked to trapit.

Police said thebear eventually walked away to a more suitable habitat.