A black bear in Michigan, which had been living with a plastic lid cinched around its neck for approximately two years, has been liberated by state wildlife biologists. This unfortunate ordeal, first brought to light by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) when the bear was spotted on a trail camera back in 2023 as a cub, seemingly unfurled a saga where the bear would sporadically appear on trail cams only to vanish soon after, as noted by ClickOnDetroit.
The breakthrough came recently in late May when a Hillman resident noticed the young bear captured in the lens of a trail camera on his wooded property; he urgently reported his finding to the DNR, and with his authorization, the biologists established a trap, resulting in the bear's capture on June 2, as reported by WXYZ. The contraption on the bear's neck, a blue lid with a 5-inch opening, is believed to be from a 55-gallon drum, these often being utilized by hunters for bear baiting a legally sanctioned activity in Michigan, but one punctuated by strict guidelines specifically concerning the size of holes in bait containers.
After biologists tranquilized the 110-pound bear, which is a healthy weight for its estimated age, they removed the lid and found the wear of its bondage apparent—scarring and an abscess defiling its neck, as mirrored by insights from MLive. Nevertheless, aside from these marks of struggle, the bear was deemed to be robust. The DNR, seizing this incident as an instructional moment, reminds landowners to crush or recycle containers like empty cheeseball tubs, and secure their trash properly.
In an expression of concern for the wider consequences of human negligence, Cody Norton, the DNR's bear, furbearer and small game specialist, warned, "Container openings of a certain size can result in bears and other wildlife getting their heads or other body parts stuck in them, leading to injury or death," as he told ClickOnDetroit. Additionally, the DNR advocates for residents to be "Bear Wise" about potential food sources like garbage and bird feeders that can re-attract a bear once it's found a meal on one's property, and indeed Michigan's bear population has been on the rise with sightings reaching farther west and south, into areas like Traverse City, Grand Rapids, and Midland regions.
