Dec. 18–A mother bear that mauled a Central Florida woman has been identified through DNA testing and will not be killed, wildlife officials said late Tuesday.
Two other black bears already have been trapped and killed since the Dec. 2 attack on 54-year-old Susan Chalfant because state fish and game officers suspected they could have been responsible.
On Dec. 9, officers captured the female bear that, it turns out, actually attacked Chalfant as she walked her dogs near Longwood. The mother bear took the bait planted in a trap in Wingfield North subdivision, where Chalfant had been mauled.
The bear’s three cubs were nearby, and two were captured. The third ran off.
Her saliva was sent to a lab and came back a match with samples from Chalfant’s wounds and clothes, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Carli Segelson said.
The bear and two cubs are at Busch Gardens in Tampa, although they are not on public display, Segelson said. The third cub also will be taken to the theme park if it is captured, but it is old enough to live on its own.
The plan is to release the cubs, which are about 11 months old, into Ocala National Forest in the spring after they are weaned. The mother will be transferred to an accredited wildlife facility, commission officials said, but they did not say where.
“Normally, we would have euthanized this bear, but for the benefit of the cubs we thought placing them with Busch Gardens would be best,” Segelson said.
In a statement, a Busch Gardens vice president said the park has “the expertise and facilities to effectively care for and house these animals” and would work with wildlife officials to eventually relocate the bears.
The mother and cubs were taken to an animal-rescue center near Apopka shortly after their capture, but the mother pulled apart a chain-link cage, and they got out. They were recaptured on the property and transferred to another sanctuary in Sorrento in Lake County.
The mauling was the most serious documented bear attack in Florida history. It occurred in a residential neighborhood off Markham Woods Road known for bear sightings.
Chalfant, covered in blood, ran to a neighbor’s house after the bear attacked her head. Her current condition has not been made public.
The first documented, unprovoked bear attack in Florida was reported in March 2012 when a woman named Terri Gurley was bitten by a female bear as she walked her dog at an apartment complex near Longwood.
The 300-pound bear, which was the mother of a cub, was euthanized. The cub was sent to an animal-rescue sanctuary.
One of the two bears euthanized after the attack on Chalfant was a 200-pound female captured Dec. 4. The other was a 200-pound male caught Dec. 8.
Both were about the same size as the bear that attacked Chalfant and had paws about the size of prints left at the scene on English Ivy Court. Both were captured nearby.
Officials at the time cited the severity of Chalfant’s injuries in deciding to put the bears down.
“Our first priority is public safety, and based on the facts presented at that time, this was the best option,” Segelson said Tuesday.
In August 2012, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took the black bear off its list of threatened species but made it illegal to hurt or kill a bear or own or sell bear parts.
To avoid bear attacks, experts advise residents to secure their garbage; carry a flashlight if they take evening walks; try to avoid walking dogs at night; and carry bear spray, a hot-pepper concentrate that can be bought online or at camping-supply stores and other retailers.
Staff writer Stephen Hudak contributed to this report. [email protected] or 407-540-5981