Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Monday, August 3, 2015
(INDIANAPOLIS) - A wild black bear that’s been roaming far northern Indiana for nearly two months has returned to the state after a short trip home to Michigan, and wildlife officials are waiting for it with live traps baited with delicacies.
The bear re-entered a wooded area near Michigan City, Indiana, on Monday after spending time in adjacent Michigan, said Budd Veverka, a farmland game research biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Since its return, there haven't been any additional reports about its possible whereabouts, but DNR Fish and Wildlife staff are keeping watch for the furry interloper, Veverka said.
Michigan has an estimated black bear population of between 15,000 and 20,000 animals, but when the bear wandered south into northern Indiana in early June it became Indiana's first confirmed wild back bear presence since 1871.
Wildlife officials launched an effort to capture the young male in mid-July after it began making forays onto residential property near Michigan City, about 60 miles east of Chicago.
The bear overturned trash cans and bird feeders while searching for food, climbed onto patios and porches, and even pounded on the doors of several homes.
The DNR has said the bear needs to be removed from Indiana to protect both it and humans from possible injury in an encounter.
Veverka said the trapping efforts are continuing in wooded areas near Michigan City where DNR staff have set up two barrel traps with doors that close when the bait inside is seized by animals. Those traps, as well as a separate bait station, are all baited with the bear delicacies of sardines, bacon, liquid smoke, honey and marshmallows.
"We have the honey and there's also some bird seed in there as well. The reason we use liquid smoke, marshallows, bacon and those others is because all of them have strong scents," he said. "We hope to draw him in and we're hoping if he's passing by he won't be able to pass that up."
If the bear isn't captured in one of the traps, the DNR can't drive it back into Michigan or it doesn't return home on its own, officials might sedate the bear using a gun that fires tranquilizer darts and turn him over to their Michigan counterparts. They would likely relocate the bear to Michigan's northern counties.
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