Officers shoot, kill protected black bear in Athens
ATHENS — A state wildlife official on Monday defended a decision to shoot and kill a 250-pound black bear that was roaming a neighborhood in north Alabama.
The bear had been previously removed from a populated area in Florida and was taken to northeast Georgia on June 22. A supervisor with the state wildlife agency said officers made a quick decision that may have saved people from getting hurt.
"Officers certainly don't like killing bears," said Capt. Johnny Johnson of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. "When a bear loses its fear of humans it's a problem."
A woman who called authorities late Friday about the bear called the shooting a "travesty and an injustice."
Sue Cooper said her cat began was banging on her bedroom window, prompting her to look outside. She saw a big bear munching on seed she uses to feed wildlife in her subdivision. "It was about 5 feet from my bedroom window," she said.
The bear ran when a neighbor shone a flashlight on him, Cooper said, and there weren't any more problems. But Cooper said she was awakened the next night by gunfire and discovered that an officer had fatally shot the bear, which was then in a tree across the street a few hundred feet from her home.
"I was so upset because the wildlife officer told me they were going to tranquilize it and relocate it, but they just shot it," she said.
A veterinarian said he had serum that officials could have used to tranquilize the protected species, but said the black bear likely would have moved back near people again.
