This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A biologist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources was flown to a hospital in Provo on Tuesday after reportedly being drugged while working on bears in remote northeastern Utah.
The employee, a man whose name was not released by the agency, was among a group working on a conservation project in the Bear Cliffs region when he was injected with the tranquilizer.
Robin Cahoon, spokeswoman for the agency, said she didn't have many details about which drug the employee was injected with, how he was injected and how the staff handled the bear after the biologist was injected.
"All expectations are that he will be fine," Cahoon said. She said the work being done is "part of the standard annual wildlife management activities that the division conducts related to bears; they'll go in and tranquilize the bears, weigh and measure them."
There are several methods biologists use to sedate bears, Cahoon said, including dart guns and poker sticks. The employee was flown to a hospital in Provo in a medical helicopter.
"I don't have the specifics as to what exactly happened when it transpired," she said.
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