June 4, 2023

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Black bear located lounging within Fort Myers enterprise

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Bears are popping up in some not likely areas in southwest Florida.

A bear was spotted on Barefoot Beach Monday, and on Tuesday, a youthful black bear wound up smack dab in the middle of a Fort Myers Business. 

Fort Myers police said the bear was discovered inside of of Hurricane Protected Shutters off Earl Highway.

The bear was observed calmly hanging out within the company, lying on the floor.

An “Interesting Morning” was an understatement from Drew Berkley, who viewed as a bear produced himself house in his Fort Myers store. 

“It jumped above the fence, arrived in as a result of our back again doorway listed here, and once it bought inside of the constructing a cop rolled up, I asked them would you like me to lock it in the setting up? And they stated indeed,” Berkley mentioned. 

The good thing is, with the bear caught inside of, it was easy to tranquilize and relocate it. But even FWC officer Adam Brown was at a reduction for how he got there.

“But these transient bears will journey a rather extensive way. So there is no telling exactly where he came from,” Brown reported. 

June is the time of the year that bears go seeking for appreciate, in accordance to FWC.

“In Florida, we have a balanced bear populace, so we are likely to see them in any type of ecosystem, together with this,” Brown additional. 

They’ve even come to be so considerable, that as just lately as 2015, the state even opened up a short hunting year on them. 

“This was a species of issue. The Florida black bear was something we were concerned about but appears to be to have rebounded quite properly,” explained Dr. Billy Gunnels, a Biology Professor from FGCU. 

Credit score: Fort Myers Law enforcement Department

Now FWC’s greatest problem is earning positive persons do not stimulate them to seek out folks as a resource of food stuff. 

“We want those bears to occur by means of and keep on to shift on into all-natural habitat. We really don’t want them to linger in our homes, and get started to associate folks and households with meals,” said Brown. 

Fort Myers law enforcement monitored the bear until eventually officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ended up equipped to answer and relocate the bear to its all-natural habitat.

Credit history: Fort Myers Law enforcement Section

FWC was there to relocate it, but now they are warning people that this is the time of calendar year that bears are on the shift. 

FWC claimed the bear is staying taken to a distant region of Collier County for relocation.