The Coquitlam RCMP says it responded to reports of a bear trying to claw its way out of a home Thursday morning.
Mounties say officers responded to a report from a homeowner near Coast Meridian Road and Prairie Avenue in Port Coquitlam, just after 6 a.m. Monday morning.
The caller said a bear had apparently entered an unlocked side door to the garage and trapped itself inside.
How long it was trapped inside is unknown, but in a video posted to social media, the bear can be seen tearing away wood above the garage car port, apparently attempting to escape.
Corp. Alexa Hodgins of the Coquitlam RCMP says officers arrived on the scene and let the bear out the side door, where it ran safely back into a nearby green space.
She said while bear encounters in the region are fairly common, the situation — and bear — were unique.
“It’s unusual, to say the least, particularly in this instance, where the bear is actually trying to rip its way out of the garage before it was able to navigate back out of the side door.”
Hodgins said the RCMP posted the video online as a reminder to the public that “this is the time of year where bears are seen in the neighbourhood” and that police and conservation services are ready to respond.