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Bear in mall parking lot back home
June 26, 2007
Contact: Joy Hill, (352) 258-3426
The bear that was in a tree in the Seminole
Towne Center Mall parking lot this morning has been safely moved
to back to his probable home in Rock Springs Run Reserve in Lake
County. This is, in no small part, thanks to the teamwork of the
Seminole County Fire Department, the mall management and
security, Sanford Police Department and the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
FWC biologist Mike Orlando and FWC Lt. Kevin
McKinney and several FWC officers responded to an 8:30 a.m.
report Tuesday that a bear was in a tree between the mall
parking lot and Interstate 4.
When FWC officials arrived, the bear was 15 to
20 feet up in the tree, but as activity increased in the area,
he climbed higher. Florida black bears climb trees when they are
frightened, and biologists normally try to allow them to come
down by themselves. However, this bear was in such a position
that depending upon which way he came down, he could end up
either in the middle of I-4 traffic or in the mall parking lot.
Because of the precarious location, Orlando
decided the best action was to tranquilize the bear. But first
he needed the bear closer to the ground.
Enter the firefighters. Fire trucks were
stationed on the shoulder of I-4 with fire hoses at the ready to
spray the bear and divert him toward the mall parking lot if he
came down and headed toward the highway.
Sometimes working with wildlife requires
adaptive thinking, and as the bear climbed higher into the tree,
Orlando and McKinney asked firefighters to see if they could
coax the bear down by spraying above him with the fire hose.
At first the bear was licking the water and
seemed to enjoy the spray. But after awhile, he had enough and
began to descend the tree. When the bear reached about 5 feet
above ground, Orlando successfully shot him with a tranquilizer
dart.
After feeling the stick of the dart, the bear
ran across the mall parking lot to a loading dock area, went
behind some dumpsters and succumbed to the effects of the
tranquilizer.
Orlando examined the tranquilized bear a male
weighing 200-250 pounds and discovered he had a broken front
leg, likely the result of being recently hit by a vehicle.
Otherwise, the bear was in excellent physical condition, and
Orlando feels he will recover from his injury without further
human intervention.
Bears often are injured in the wild both from
collisions with vehicles and altercations with other bears and
have proved to be extremely resilient, Orlando said.
After the six-hour ordeal, the bear was back
home in Rock Springs Run, sleeping off the effects of the
tranquilizer. He sports a new lip tattoo so biologists can
identify him if they encounter him later. But he will not wear
an ear tag; this bear is not considered a nuisance simply a
bear trying to make his way in an increasingly urban
environment. |
