A hungry black bear was seen walking upright on its hind legs through a New Jersey neighborhood.
Ian Bohman took this video one early morning, of the bipedal bear walking through a quiet Oak Ridge cul-de-sac, stopping to peek into a garbage can. He commented under the video on YouTube: “It just walked by like I wasn’t there.”
Bohman believes the bear was forced to walk that way due to an injury. Indeed, if you go to the 0:38 mark in the video, you’ll see that the bear’s front right leg clearly is wounded or amputated.
ABC News reports, Aug. 7, 2014, that Bohman said the bear is “kind of famous” in his hometown, having been spotted before prowling for food and walking on its hind legs.
An expert told ABC News that the bear is likely walking upright as a result of an injury. Kelsey Burgess, from the New Jersey Department of Fish, Game and Wildlife, said, ““More than likely it was a car accident. He was banged by a car. … Bears can walk on their hind legs very well. It’s just they don’t choose to do so unless they’re forced to.”
Oak Ridge is located in an area of northern New Jersey, where bear sightings, according to Bohman, are relatively common. This particular bear, he says, did not look well: “When I saw it, it did look a little skinny and it was sad seeing it looking into an empty garbage can.”
Local residents have even nicknamed the bear Vinny.
It turns out state wildlife officials have been monitoring the bear since residents first reported sighting it in June. They say the bear’s a juvenile under 3 years old, weighs about 250 pounds, and walks upright because its two front paws are injured. More than likely it was a car accident.
Officials say the bear not a danger to people and they have no plans to capture or relocate him.
But why can’t state wildlife capture-and-release the poor bear so as to treat its injuries?
~Eowyn
