Bear and cubs break into Monrovia home, help selves to cat food

MONROVIA — A large bear and two cubs forced their way into a home Tuesday, helped themselves to cat food and made a large mess before ultimately scampering back into the wilderness, authorities said.
The four-legged burglars showed up shortly before 12:40 p.m. at a house in the 800 block of Ridgeside Drive, Monrovia police Sgt. Dan Verna said. No one was home at the time, and the incident was reported by a neighbor.
“A very large female brown bear broke out a window,” Verna said. “The female bear and two cubs entered the home through the opening and ate cat food. They made a large mess and exited out the same window.”
The bears lingered in the neighborhood, so officers used a bean bag gun to shoo them back into the forest, the sergeant said. The mother bear ran back to the wilderness, but the cubs became startled and climbed a nearby tree.
When the bear realized her cubs were not behind her, “The mother returned and took a position to guard her cubs at the base of the tree,” Verna said.
Monrovia Animal Control officials, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials, were summoned to take charge of the situation, Verna said.
Officials asked everyone to leave the area so the cubs would come down from the tree, Verna said. Once left alone, the cubs descended and returned to their forest with their mother.
The incident lasted about three hours.

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