Dec. 12–A mother bear ripped through a chain-link fence at an Apopka rehab center to freedom with her two bear cubs in tow late Wednesday but their independence was short-lived.
As rehab-center volunteers made their rounds, the female — estimated to weigh between 250 and 275 pounds — chewed or clawed at the steel fencing keeping her family captive.
In the 15 minutes between checks from guards at the Care Foundation rehab center, the bear had procured a suitable exit strategy and made a beeline for the palmettos trailed by her little ones.
It has been a bizarrely bad couple of news weeks for bear in Central Florida.
After the Dec. 2 mauling of a woman in a Seminole County neighborhood, bears have been the target of news reporters, wildlife officers, angry neighbors, politicians and delectably-baited traps.
They’ve also inspired the loyalty of bear country residents who have come to their defense in the wake of the attack.
The adult female was captured Dec. 9 after being tempted by the deliciousness of a sugary snack inside a trap left by wildlife officers in the Wingfield North subdivision, where 54-year-old Susan Chalfant was injured by a bear.
Two bears — an adult female and adult male — were euthanized.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials now think the adult female was the animal responsible for Chalfant’s injuries.
The female was caught days later while her three yearlings bounced around the cage.
Two were caught and taken into custody with the mother.
The third cub ran off and officers are still looking for it.
After taking the bear family to the Care Foundation’s facility, the female made her brazen escape.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said foundation founder and director Christin Anne Burford. “Everybody was shocked.”
Wildlife officers said there was nothing structurally wrong with the cage except that it got between a “determined bear” and her wild life.
“This is why we don’t like to keep wild adult bears in captivity,” said FWC spokeswoman Karen Parker. “She tore a hole in the cage. For a wild bear that has been free ranging, that’s to be expected.”
The family went about 50 yards and climbed up a tree because “that’s what bears do when they’re scared.” Biologists arrived and within three hours all the bears were tranquilized and back in a cage.
The bears were transported to another facility in Sorrento.
“It’s a little bit more secure and has a heavier gauge fence,” Parker said. “It should hold her and they are going to monitor her.”
The bears will be held until they are cleared as having not been responsible for the mauling by DNA analysis, Parker said. They will then be released back into the wild.
Meanwhile, another female yearling that was caught last week is doing well at a Crystal River facility.
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