FWC responds to bear incident in Volusia County

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from a woman who was injured by a black bear while walking her dog in DeBary at approximately 9 p.m. on Jan. 13.  

Volusia County Sheriff’s Officers arrived on the scene and found an adult female bear with yearlings in a tree nearby. EMS arrived on the scene to treat the woman’s injuries, which were not life threatening. The woman’s dog was not injured. FWC bear biologists darted the adult bear in the tree and humanely killed it per the FWC policy to protect public safety. The three 100-pound yearlings are old enough to survive on their own and so no attempt was made to capture them.

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. To learn more about bears and how to avoid conflicts with them, visit MyFWC.com/Bear or BearWise.org.