Florida wildlife officials killed three black bears in Collier County Monday night near the area of rare attack that left a man and his dog dead and collected DNA for testing.
Robert Markel, 89, and his family dog were found dead Monday on Markel's property near Jerome, a rural community near State Road 29 and U.S. 41, south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area.
If confirmed, it would be the first recorded human fatality caused by a bear in Florida, officials said.
Markel and the dog were killed at different times, officials said. Markel's daughter called authorities Monday morning after seeing a bear attack the dog.
At a media briefing Tuesday, Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the agency is continuing to investigate and advised that the involvement of more than one bear was a possibility.
"FWC has secured the perimeter, and several traps and cameras were placed throughout the area," Young said
Young said killing the bears is part of the protocol for these incidents. DNA samples from the scenes and the bears were sent to a laboratory at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
"Our policy says that we will try to trap or take all bears that could possibly be involved," he said. "We are sending these bears and taking DNA samples from the victims, from the area, from the bears that were taken to the lab, so we can match it through DNA testing."
The testing attempts to match material found on or in the bears to human or animal victims, Young said, adding it was hoped the results would come in about 24 hours.
Young said the investigation is still in early stages.
"As we get more information, we'll provide that to you," he said. "That's where we are at this point."
Although bears attacks are extremely rare, Young warned people to remain vigilant and to avoid the area.
"Do not approach or attempt to track wildlife," he said. "Law enforcement and FWC personnel are continuing to monitor bear activity and ensure public safety."
Young said it is likely a black bear committed the attacks. The FWC estimates there are about 4,000 black bears in the state.
Asked if the daughter was safe at the home where the fatality happened, Young said varied efforts were being made.
"We've got multiple officers on the scene on the property, and throughout, we have traps still set up, and we're doing all that we can. We've had conversations with them. We've been in communication with them regularly," he said. "We're working with them to ensure that they feel safe on the property, and we're doing all we can to help keep them safe there and ensure that they're safe there. And then those efforts will be ongoing."
Mike Orlando, FWC Bear Management Program Coordinator, said it was possible for further animal killings to take place as warranted.
"Until we can definitively say which bears were involved, we were going to continue these efforts until we can make that decision," he said. "As we go through the investigation throughout the day, if we do get to capture or kill additional bears, we will additionally send them to Gainesville for testing."
There have been no confirmed human fatalities caused by bears in Florida to date, an FWC official said. Comprehensive records were first kept by the agency in the 1970s.
While it is rare for bears to injure people in Florida, people have been bitten and scratched by bears defending themselves, cubs or food sources, the FWC said.
The FWC has recorded 42 incidents of black bear-human involvement with injuries, including two in Collier (2008 and 2018) and another in Lee County.
In many of those instances, the human was accompanied by a dog, FWC statistics show.
"Dogs and bears really just don't get along. We see that throughout the state, you know, that they really don't like each other. So we do have conflicts with dogs quite frequently," Orlando said. "The issue with a person being not only injured but killed by a bear is extraordinarily rare. It's the first time we've had that in our state's history, and it's rare, not only just throughout the country."
Orlando said the cause of the attack remained unknown.
"I don't really know how to answer the question on why this bear did what it did, but we're in the process of trying to figure all that out," he said.
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