A black bear weighing 500 pounds was tranquilized near Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tennessee, and relocated Thursday.
A social media post from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) shows the bear incapacitated and accompanied by one of their wildlife officers.
“The bear had regular access to garbage, birdseed, and pet food had and been in the area for a few years but ramped up its activity and property damage last year” the agency’s post stated.
The bear had “become habituated to human and unnatural foods” and was trapped due to the “increasing potential for negative interaction” according to TWRA. The bear was relocated with the help of Greeneville Fire Department to a remote area in the Cherokee National Forest. (RELATED: 7 Black Bears Epically Crash Pool Party)
A 500-pound black bear prowling around a Tennessee university has been captured and relocated. https://t.co/G7cfetSXlz
— CNN International (@cnni) March 28, 2022
Firefighters used a stretcher device known as a SKED, which is normally used to rescue people in confined spaces, but was “configured to slide the heavy bear out of the woods,” Administrative Chief Marty Shelton said, according to The Greeneville Sun.
“Black bears den for the winter months and typically emerge in late March or early April. When they emerge from dens, natural foods are scarce and often bears are lured by the smell of human-related foods,” the TWRA stated.