Three black bears have been killed in an area of Collier County that saw a man and a dog fatally attacked on Monday.
The early Monday attack resulted in the death of 89-year-old Robert Markel and his family's dog around State Road 29 and U.S. 41, just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, in a rural Collier County community known as Jerome.
At a media briefing Tuesday, Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the agency is continuing to investigate the fatal wildlife attack and advised that the involvement of more than one bear was a possibility.
"The attack resulted in the death of ... Markel, a long-time resident of Jerome, Florida, and a second attack resulted in the loss of the family dog," Young said. "FWC has secured the perimeter, and several traps and cameras were placed throughout the area."
Young added that FWC personnel killed three bears Monday night. DNA samples from the scene and the Three Bears have been sent to Gainesville for testing. We are awaiting the results of the DNA testing now
"DNA samples from the scene and the three bears have been sent to Gainesville for testing, and we are awaiting those results," he said.
Young also repeated a warning that urged residents and visitors to continue to remain vigilant and avoid the area.
"Do not approach or attempt to track wildlife," he urged. "Law enforcement and FWC personnel are continuing to monitor bear activity and ensure public safety."
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."
Young said the bears that were killed Monday were part of the protocol for these kinds of incidents.
"As part of the protocol after an incident like this, 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 would attempt to match material found on or in the bears to the human or animal victims, Young said, adding that it was hoped that the results would come in about 24 hours.
Asked if the daughter of Markel 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 and documented human fatalities by bear in Florida to date, with the investigation in question still ongoing, an FWC official confirmed. 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.
Orlando added that the FWC has actually seen a steady rise over the last 15 years of bear encounters.
"We have sort of plateaued off around 6,000 calls a year, but the majority of those calls are I just seen a bear or a bear cross the road in front of me," he said.
Since recording keeping began, the FWC has recorded 42 incidents of black bear-human involvement with injuries. Including two such incidents in Collier County, 2008 and 2018, and one in Lee, 2019.
In many of those instances, such as the fatal incident this morning, the human was accompanied by a canine, FWC statistics show.
In the Monday incident, Orlando said there was a dog involved.
"Dogs and bears really just don't get along. We see that throughout the state, you know, they 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 at this time.
"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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