Florida Sow and Cub Captured After Attack

The 14-month-old Florida black bear cub whose mother attacked a Longwood resident March 16 will spend the rest of its life at EARS wildlife sanctuary near Citra in Marion County.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists captured the young male bear this morning in a trap set near the dumpster at Camden Club apartments in Longwood where he and his mother had been eating garbage.

Biologists were also able to capture the offending female bear after shooting her with a tranquilizer dart near the trap. After tranquilizing her, they loaded her into a second bear trap and took her off site.

"We had to make the difficult decision to put the bear down because human safety is our first priority and we couldn't take the risk that she would injure someone else," said Joy Hill, FWC public information coordinator.

Relocating or putting her in captivity was not an option. If she was relocated she would likely repeat the same behavior somewhere else, and placing wild adult bears in captivity has proven unsuccessful.