MEDFORD, Ore.—Wildlife officials say a young black bear captured outside a Medford elementary school and released into the mountains northeast of Klamath Falls returned to the city and was shot by a hunter.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said the bear traveled 78 air miles in 10 days before it was legally shot Friday less than two miles from Medford's city limits.
“Our guidelines allow biologists to use their discretion in dealing with bears like this one found inside the Medford city limits,” said Russ Stauff, Acting Regional Manager. “Although it’s unusual for us to relocate bears, we felt this yearling bear had inadvertently wandered into town and was not displaying aggressive behavior so we chose to relocate it.”
“However, the bear obviously wanted to get back to town and food sources that are easier to find. It appeared to be headed back toward town when it was taken by a hunter less than two miles outside city limits near Hillcrest Road,” Stauff said.
The bear was first seen Oct. 14, wandering through Medford streets before running into the school playground. The bear climbed a small tree and stayed there as school officials notified police.
Many students watched through windows as a wildlife biologist fired a tranquilizing dart into the 90-pound bear, which plopped out of the tree and was hauled away. The bear was released into national forestland, where it ambled away with special ear-tags to warn any sport-hunters about eating the bear's meat for the next month because it could contain tranquilizer.
The incident was considered a relocation success story until Monday, when a hunter brought the bear's skull to the ODFW office near White City as part of the mandatory check-in of hunter-killed bears. The ear-tags identified it as the school bear, Niemela said.
Bears are known to become habituated to specific areas and food, particularly if they start focusing on garbage and other human sources of food.
"It's very difficult to break their habits," Niemela said. "This bear was drugged and spent 99 percent of its travel time in a crate in the back of a pickup. How it was able to orient itself without any reference points or landmarks is a pretty impressive feat."
Sally Mackler, wildlife chairwoman for the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the bear's death is a sad reminder that people should do their best not to lure animals into city settings—intentionally or unintentionally.
"A lot of times, relocation sounds warm and fuzzy, but it may not be the answer," Mackler said. "The phrase, 'A fed bear is a dead bear' exists for a reason."
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