PANAMA CITY — A 350-pound black bear has found his way back to the area after being relocated three weeks ago to a forest over 90 miles away.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s him, but it is,” said Stan Kirkland, spokesman at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation. “He’s back.”
FWC had tranquilized the bear April 14 after being spotted about 40-feet high in a tree on
“We try to find a place we can take them and release them rather than euthanize them,”
Green tags marked with the code W088 proved it was the same bear. By about 4 p.m. Tuesday, officials were prepared to get him out of a tree in the residential area off
Biologist Jerry Pitts shot a tranquilizer dart into the bear’s hip; the drug began to work within minutes.
“He can’t hold on,” said neighborhood resident Elizabeth Brannon. “It’s happening; he’s going to hit those branches.”
The bear used its claws to hold on as his limbs appeared to go limp. He steadied himself using his left leg as an anchor between his rear end and the branch.
Onlookers let out a gasp en masse and lifted their hands to their faces, anticipating the second when the bear could no longer hold on.
Officials scurried to position a tarp filled with airbags at the best estimated point to break the bear’s fall.
“Oh, God,” Brannon said, clutching 1-year-old puppy Maxwell, her brown and white Cavalier King Charles.
One of the bear’s legs slipped entirely, then a paw and, within a blink of an eye, his entire body fell more than 20 feet safely onto the tarp.
Whistling and applause rang out as the crowd moved swiftly to encircle the bear, which was lying by the tree, licking out his tongue every few seconds.
The bear will remain in FWC custody overnight and officials will determine Wednesday where his next destination will be.
“It’s pretty unpredictable,” Pitts said, “but that went better than we can ever dream.”