An 88-year-old guy and his pet were eliminated in 2 obvious bear attacks on the edge of the Florida Everglades on Monday early morning, according to authorities.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission stated it had actually gotten a call about a “bear encounter” not long after 7 a.m. regional time near the small unincorporated neighborhood of Jerome, about an hour’s drive southeast of Fort Myers.
Long time local Robert Markel was discovered dead at the scene, within a couple of hundred backyards of a canine that authorities think was eliminated “a long time” later on.
If the cause of death is certainly verified, it would be the very first recorded deadly bear attack in the history of Florida, according to Commission representative Jorge Reynaud, though there was a nonfatal mauling by a bear in January.
“We do understand it was a bear attack. We do not understand if it was the exact same bear or several bears,” Reynaud informed press reporters at a press rundown on Markel Monday.
Later on, after a search including aerial drones and bear traps, wildlife authorities might have discovered the bear accountable.
According to the Naples Daily News, a cluster of obvious gunshots might be heard over the woods near Jerome on Monday night, followed by authorities transporting a dead bear out of the forest. It wasn’t right away clear who eliminated the bear.
Authorities had actually previously alerted homeowners and visitors that the animal in concern– more than likely a Florida black bear, of which there are an approximated 4,050 in the Sunlight State– may still be on the prowl.
“Out of an abundance of care, we prompt homeowners and visitors to stay watchful, and prevent the location,” a Commission representative stated.
According to reports, authorities think that Markel was coping with the pet in a rural Jerome location home consisting of a number of homes, on the western fringe of the Huge Cypress National Reserve.
His child is thought to have actually seen the bear attack the pet, and after that called 911, leading wildlife authorities to find Markel’s body “a couple hundred backyards away” from the pet’s body.