Florida’s First Fatal Black Bear Attack Claims 89-Year-Old Man, Officials Confirm

An 89-year-old man and his dog were killed by a black bear in southwest Florida. This is the first known fatal black bear attack in the history of the state.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says that around 7 a.m. on Monday, May 5, police were called to the home of 89-year-old Robert Markel in Jerome, Fla., which is a rural, unincorporated community about 40 miles southeast of Naples. They found his body about 100 yards outside of his home.

“Markel’s family reported him missing,” the FWC said in a news release. “There were signs of recent disturbances that could have been caused by a bear around the property.”

Authorities from the FWC said they found proof of “a physical encounter between a bear and a person near the residence,” as well as proof that a bear had entered the house and killed a dog close to a person.

In its statement, the FWC stated that this was the first fatal black bear attack in Florida’s history. Bears have scratched and bitten people in Florida before, though.

The group also said that the attack met the requirements for the killing of three bears in the nearby South Bear Management Unit and the collection of their DNA. The bears were adult males weighing 207, 263, and 434 pounds. The FWC team also tried to catch a fourth bear but failed.

“The three carcasses were immediately transported to laboratories in Gainesville for necropsy and testing, along with DNA samples collected from physical evidence at the scene,” people said.

The FWC says that the exact order of events is still not clear, but DNA samples from the tests on Friday showed that the 263-pound male’s body had some of Markel’s remains in it.

The FWC said that DNA tests on Markel, his house, and his dog all showed that the 263-pound male’s DNA was present. All three bears tested negative for rabies.

Since Monday, police and bear management staff have been keeping an eye on the land for more bears. They only saw one more bear briefly on Thursday night, before it left the area.

In a statement, FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said, “We want to thank the family for their cooperation as they go through this difficult time. Our thoughts are with them.” “I am proud of our staff’s professional response and support for the family as they faced an unfathomable event this week.”

There are about 4,050 bears in Florida, according to the FWC. There are no other kinds of bears in the state. The third most bears in the state live in the South Bear Management Unit, which includes Jerome. In 2015, that number was expected to be 1,044 bears.

According to the news release, the FWC has only kept track of 42 cases where wild black bears have touched people since the 1970s. Besides this week’s deadly attack, only three of those incidents caused major injuries that needed medical care.

On the group’s website, it says that people who live near bears should never feed them, keep trash, food, and animals safe, and pay attention when walking their dogs.

“Please contact the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) if you feel threatened by a bear; observe a sick, injured, dead, or orphaned bear; or to report someone who is either harming bears or intentionally feeding them,” the release said.

The FWC also said that the investigation into the attack that killed one person is still going on and will not end until all the tests are done.

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