Bear Euthanized in Montco Had Been Hit By Gunfire, Not Car, Officials Say
By Brad Segall
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania officials have released some new information about the black bear that was euthanized last week after it was found roaming around the Horsham area of Montgomery County (see previous story).
Game Commission officials thought the bear had been injured by being struck by a car. But during a post-mortem examination, wildlife officers found the bear had been shot.
Commission spokeswoman Cheryl Trewella says the bear had hundreds of pellets under its skin -- it had been hit by ammunition from both a shotgun and a BB gun.
She says the bear also had an old arrow wound on its back leg.
"It would suggest to me that this might have been a bear who was causing some issues for some people -- a nuisance bear -- whether it was getting into dumpsters or trash cans," Trewella told KYW Newsradio today, "and somebody decided to just shoot at it."
She says there's no way of knowing where that happened or who is responsible. But moving forward, she wants people to know that bear hunting is legal in Pennsylvania but only during the fall and winter months. And she says the types of pellets found in the bear would not be legal for hunters to use.