HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A bear that was spotted last week roaming around a Homestead neighborhood was captured over the weekend and released in a state forest, officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed.
Home surveillance video captured the bear strolling around the Isles of Oasis neighborhood off Pacific Drive and Southwest 147th Avenue around 10 p.m. Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the FWC said the 200-pound male bear was captured around noon Saturday and was released in the Picayune Strand State Forest in Collier County the following morning.
“During this time of year, bears are more active. Juvenile bears are starting to disperse from their mothers and may be seen in unexpected areas as they make their way to other habitats and typically move away on their own,” the spokeswoman, Arielle Callender, said in an email to Local 10 News.
According to a map provided by the FWC, bear sightings in Southeast Florida are rare, however Callender said a bear sighting in a residential area is not necessarily cause for alarm.
“However, it is important that residents secure food attractants so that bears do not linger in the area. If a bear is not able to find food, it will move on,” she said.
FWC officials warn the public never to approach a bear or feed it.
“The worst thing you can do is turn around and run,” Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill said.
Instead, Magill suggests looking as “big as possible,” speaking firmly and loudly yelling at the bear.
“More likely than not, that bear is gonna run away,” he said.
Neighbors in Homestead were happy to hear that the bear has a new home.
“Our kids ride their bikes and so it is great to realize we don’t have to worry anymore about bears roaming through the neighborhood and worry about the kids,” resident Tikealia Williams said.
To learn more about bears and how to avoid conflicts with them, visit MyFWC.com/Bear or BearWise.org.
If you feel threatened by a bear, see someone harming or feeding a bear, or spot an injured, sick, dead or orphaned bear, call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).