Bear Tranked by Officers in New Mexico Clinic

A 125-pound male bear, estimated to be two to three years old, decided to visit a suburban Albuquerque, N.M., health clinic last week. He was put down with a tranquilizer dart fired by state game and fish officers and returned to the wild unharmed.

A 125-pound male bear, estimated to be two to three years old, decided to visit a suburban Albuquerque, N.M., health clinic last week. He was put down with a tranquilizer dart fired by state game and fish officers and returned to the wild unharmed.

The bear entered Presbyterian Health Care Services around 7:15 a.m. through an automatic door that led into the gastroenterology laboratory.

"There were just a handful of people there, before the time when it was open for appointments - I think a nurse, perhaps a receptionist, and a patient and spouse. I think the person in the waiting room was pretty surprised," clinic spokesman Todd Sandman told the Associated Press.

The bear was tagged for identification and released 20 miles to the southeast in the Manzano Mountains.

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