Winnipeg police and conservation officers spent several hours this weekend trying to convince a bear to climb down from a tree.

The standoff started Saturday around noon when conservation officers attempted to reach the stranded animal with a bucket truck and hit it with a tranquilizer. But the bear was out of reach.

“It’s just a waiting game,” conservation officer Robert Belanger told CTV Winnipeg on Saturday. “We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure the bear has a good result at the end.”

He said bears typically avoid people, but tempting smells sometimes lure them into the neighbourhood near the Red River.

On Sunday morning, a provincial spokesperson told CTV Winnipeg the bear eventually came down on its own and there was no sign of it in the area.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Beth Macdonell