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Indiana DNR may tranquilize bear that’s becoming more brazen

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A state biologist says a black bear that’s becoming increasingly brazen as it roams far northern Indiana may need to be tranquilized to capture the animal and return it to Michigan.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources farmland game research biologist Budd Veverka said Tuesday the bear that’s Indiana’s first confirmed wild black bear since the 1870s is making more and more forays into residents’ yards.

The bear has damaged garbage cans and bird feeders and pounded on the doors of several homes in the Michigan City area.

Veverka says that because of that behavior the DNR has added the option of tranquilizing the bear if two traps fail to capture the animal.

He says sedating the bear might be needed to protect both it and humans from a possible encounter.