A 500-pound black bear living near a Tennessee college has been captured after becoming too comfortable near people and human food, wildlife officials said.
The bear, living near Tusculum University, a Presbyterian college in Greeneville, “had become habituated to human and unnatural foods and was relocated to a remote area of the Cherokee National Forest,” the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said Thursday in a Facebook post.
The bear had been near the school for a few year due to regular access to garbage, birdseed and pet food. After it had “ramped up its activity and property damage last year,” wildlife officials decided to trap the bear, but were unable to because the animal had changed its travel patterns.
A 500-pound black bear living near Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tenn., had become habituated to human and unnatural foods and was relocated to a remote area of the Cherokee National Forest.Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
“Recent activity indicated it was back to its old ways,” the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said, and officers were able to tranquilize it.
The Greeneville Fire Department helped to transport the bear to the forest.