Game commission: Sickly bear trapped, euthanized

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Authorities say a sickly bear wasting away with an advanced case of mange was trapped in western Pennsylvania and euthanized.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission had been seeking the adult female since residents reported it near Kittanning recently.

Rodney Burns, a wildlife conservation officer for the commission, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he responded to a homeowner’s report of the bear and set a trap Wednesday.

After the bear was trapped Friday, he saw it had lost 25 to 35 percent of its body weight and most of its hair, without which it wouldn’t survive the winter.

Burns said turning it out into the cold would have been cruel, and it could have infected other animals or even humans.

About 5 to 10 percent of Pennsylvania bears have mange.