A 400-pound black bear was struck and killed by a vehicle in a rare wildlife encounter near Southwest Martin Highway and Southwest Warfield Boulevard in Martin County on Monday morning.
Incident Details
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene around 8 a.m. after receiving a 911 call. Deputies said the driver stopped immediately and stayed with the animal until authorities arrived.
Residents in the area said the encounter was unusual. “We live like in the middle of the woods, and we’ve never seen one, but that’s pretty crazy that they are so close cause this is like right here and we live right there. That’s really crazy,” Lilly Tumoszwicz said.
Resident Sara Howell expressed concern. “Of course, it’s very sad that the bear was killed and scared for the driver. Hopefully, they were OK,” Howell said.
Investigators said the driver was shaken but not injured. The bear will be taken to a biologist to collect data and determine why it was in the area.
“I spoke to that biologist. We do not have a problem with bears. Likely what was happening is this bear was dispersing. Dispersing is when a bear reaches a certain age, it tends to separate from its mother, from its pack or whatever you call it, and starts to look for its own habitat, its own place to live,” Maj. Ruben Romero said.
Drivers are urged to use extra caution, especially during the early morning and evening hours in rural areas where wildlife is common.
Original reporting: WPBF (Treasure Coast / Hearst) — read the source article.
