CAMARILLO : Bear Forages at Fast-Food Outlets

Apparently driven out of the mountains by the drought, a hungry black bear decided to forage for food in a strawberry field and a couple of fast-foot joints in Camarillo early Saturday morning.

At about 5 a.m., the furry, 300-pound beast showed up at a McDonald’s, startling a couple of joggers, authorities said.

Officers from the Sheriff’s Department, county Animal Regulation Department, state Department of Fish and Game, and the California Highway Patrol soon arrived on the scene.

Roger Graves, field supervisor for the Animal Regulation Department, said the bear was shot with a tranquilizer dart but still managed to climb a chain-link fence. The bear finally came to rest at the El Pollo Loco on Las Posas Road after it was shot with another dart.

Graves said the drugged animal was examined by a veterinarian and taken back to Los Padres National Forest. Graves could not explain how the bear got to Camarillo, but he had an idea why the bear was there.

“It’s water and food,” Graves said. “It’s been pretty dry. Just a couple of weeks ago we had another bear in Oak View.”

Ramon Gomez, manager of the El Pollo Loco, said he was frightened when he arrived for work at 7 a.m. and saw police cars in the parking lot. Gomez said he feared a break-in and thought his night porter had called the police.

He said he was greatly relieved to learn that the fuss was only over a drugged bear. Still, the animal made an impression. “It was big,” Gomez said. “It was bigger than the ones in the L.A. Zoo.”