A "fat and lazy" bear has proved a difficult beast to remove from a Canadian town because of its girth and severe lack of energy with attempts to remove it entering a second day.

The black bear weighing more than 200kg is pestering the town of Port Coquithlam near Vancouver, trapping residents in homes while it napped in their yards and putting a primary school into lockdown.

Initial reports suggested it was drunk from eating fermented apples, but wildlife officials said the portly bear was just lazy.

"He's just fat, and he's lazy, and he was just resting," Conservation Officer Jack Trudgian told Global News about the constantly kipping bear.

"It might like the neighbourhood, but I wouldn't say it's a public safety concern."

Officers did not want to shoot the bear, but tranquilising it was not an ideal option because of its size.

If it climbed a tree they could shoot it with a dart, but it was too big to do that too.

"He's so obese, he can't even climb a tree," said Mr Trudgian.

Wildlife officers wanted to cajole the bear to the Coquitlam River, but a school full of children was in the way and it kept getting distracted by the attention of the town's folk.

After a day of constant hide-and-seek and being chased between houses, the bear was so exhausted it fell asleep in a blackberry bush instead.

It is not certain whether the bear has been returned to the wild.