A black bear that made an unannounced visit to a day camp near Winnipeg on Wednesday has died after being tranquillized by provincial conservation officials.

The female bear was spotted by visitors at the Fort Whyte Centre Wednesday morning. More than three dozen children taking part in a summer nature camp at the centre were confined to the facility's buildings that afternoon until the bear was captured.

Officials tranquillized the bear and were transporting it to Beaudry Park, just west of the city, when the animal died.

Richard Romaniuk of the provincial Conservation Department said they never intended to kill the bear.

"We spent a good 2½ hours in the bush there, kind of chasing it around, trying to get a clear shot with the tranquillizer," Romaniuk said Wednesday afternoon. "Our intent was to tranquillize the bear and relocate it."

Romaniuk said he could not pinpoint exactly what caused the bear's death, but said a couple of factors were probably involved.

"I wouldn't want to say that it was a reaction to the [tranquillizer] drug that made the bear to pass away," he said. "I suspect it was probably more heat-related. It was about 32 or 33 degrees Celsius outside .... So a combination of the heat and the drug may have caused the bear to pass away."

Kids were brave

Conservation officials said the bear had likely made her way along the Red River to the Fort Whyte Centre in search of food. They said it did not pose a threat to people at Fort Whyte.

Visitors to Fort Whyte spotted the black bear just before noon Wednesday, estimating it was about 27 metres away in the forest.

"Two people visiting the site saw it and told our camp staff about it," said Barret Miller, the summer program co-ordinator at Fort Whyte.

"About 15 minutes after that, I saw it. And we saw it walking through the brush and into the deeper forest. [It] just seemed to be walking around."

That was when staff rounded up three dozen nature day-camp participants — all between the ages of eight and 10 — and moved them safely indoors.

Miller said the young campers were brave in the face of the bear sighting.

"I think they're going to go home with a good story tonight," Miller said.

Miller said it was the first bear he has seen at Fort Whyte in his four summers working there.