I arrived at PAWS at 8:30am yesterday as preparations were being made to dart the bear with anesthetic so he could be brought out of his enclosure safely.  Dr. Huckabee and 2 other veterinarians were there, and about 10 other interested people who were looking at the bears x rays to see how his badly broken leg had healed.  The bear weighed only 16 pounds when he first came to PAWS, only 23 pounds when I first saw him (pictures on the photo page).  
The veterinarian darted the bear by putting a long metal tube into the enclosure, aiming for a muscle in the thigh, and using an air compressor to shoot the dart.  The medicine takes affect in 5-15 minutes.  After 11 minutes the bear was sitting down but his head was still up, so the decison was made to give a second dose of medication.  I got to look in on him and was amazed at how big he looked.  I felt compasion for him because he was making a little moaning sound and he has been through so much.  The second dose of medicing was delivered by putting a syringe on the end of a metal estension pole that had a plunger on the end of it.  The veterianarian put the pole into the enclosure and gave the bear the injection in the thigh muscle.  He layed down flat on his belly and was placed on a strecher.  They brought him to weigh him (126 ponds!) the into the x ray room to take images of his hip joint for the last time to see how well the bone had healed.  Then they brought him into another room where they took a blood sample and put a tag on his ear.  The tag had a number but would not allow him to be tracked.  The many people who came to see the bear got to come into the room to pet him, look at his beautiful feet and paws, and say goodbye.  A videographer was there taking video for PAWS and interviewing Dr. Huckabee.  Everyone agreed that this was a real success story since many doubted that the bear would survive and thrive to be released.
He was put back on the strecher and carried out to a metal "box" in the back of a pick up truck with a canopy on it.  There was hay in the box and he layed flat on his belly.  He had a tube in his throat to help keep his airway open.  A group of about 12 people stood there and talked with the box open for people to take pictures while they monitored the bear because he had to swallow on his own before they could remove the tube.  The stimulated him to wake up by spanking his butt a few times, and Dr. Huckabee touched his tongue which was hanging out.  They test the jaw for tension and listen to the heart rate with a stethescope as other signs of level of consciousness.  It took about 20 minutes until the tube could come out.  By then, the bear was trying to raise his head.  The box was closed (there are air holes in it and the canopy windows were open). 
3 carloads of people took off with radios for communication and a map of where we were going.  We drove north to exit 230 (Anacortes exit), turned right onto highway 20, then went on highway 9 toward mount Baker.  We stopped at a fire station just inside of a town called Acme where 2 Fish and Wildlife agency officers met us.  There were about 8 other people there too-many had been involved in the rescue of the bear and had been the ones who contacted PAWS to come and get the bear last December when he was first picked up by someone.  That person had kept the bear in their bathroom for a week while they tried to find out who to call to help-they didn't know what to do.  From the fire station, a caravan of cars went up a forest service road to the release site-about a 45 minute drive.  The Fish and Wildlife agency has authority to decide where, when and how a bear will be released.  Since the bear came from the Acme area, it was released in that vicinity because they don't  want to tamper with gene pools.
The metal box was set facing a wooded area and a rope pulley used to open the door.  The bear came out slowly and ran into the bushes when the wildlife officer fired a rifle to make noise to scare him.  That was it.  I got one picture of him as he came out of the box looking confused.  He may grow to be 250-300 pounds.  I put pictures on the photo page.  Our group of 12 stopped for Mexican food in Berlington on the way home and it was quite interesting to hear the stories of these wildlife veterinarians and biologist, and the mrmorable releases they had been involved in (everything from 500 pound sea lions to deer, bears, and raptors).  A very unique and cool day I feel priveldged to be a part of.