Moving day

Officials relocate bear family living in highway median

In this photo released Thursday, March 14, 2019, by the Massachusetts State Police and Massachusetts Environmental Police, an officer carries a bear cub while relocating a family of bears to a nearby forest from a den they had set up in the median of Route 2 in Templeton, Mass. (Massachusetts State Police and Massachusetts Environmental Police via AP)
In this photo released Thursday, March 14, 2019, by the Massachusetts State Police and Massachusetts Environmental Police, an officer carries a bear cub while relocating a family of bears to a nearby forest from a den they had set up in the median of Route 2 in Templeton, Mass. (Massachusetts State Police and Massachusetts Environmental Police via AP)

TEMPLETON, Mass.-A portion of a Massachusetts highway was shut down while state wildlife officials moved a family of bears that had set up a den in the median.

State police shut down a stretch of Route 2 in Templeton on Thursday morning while state environmental police tranquilized the mother bear and relocated her and her cubs to a safer location in a nearby state forest.

Authorities say the bears had to be moved as a precaution to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of motorists.

Route 2 is a four-lane highway in that area and was shut down for about 45 minutes.

State police tweeted that "everything went beary well" with the move.

Upcoming Events