Despite efforts to keep the bear in the tree, it climbed back down and at that point police say they had no other option than to shoot it.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) had been called to help capture the bear, but hadn't yet arrived on scene.

“The officers involved and York Regional Police regret the incident but there were no other options,” said Chief Eric Jolliffe in a statement.

“Police officers are not equipped with tranquilizers nor are they trained on the containment of wild animals. We will be following up with the MNR in an attempt to improve the response to such incidents.”

The bear was also not far from an elementary school and police say they were "were left with no choice but to use lethal force in order to preserve public safety."

Global News / Via globalnews.ca