Wildlife officers kill three black bears after a bear in Collier County killed a man and a dog

Florida Wildlife Officers killed three black bears in the southwest of Florida a day earlier after a fatal attack on a man and a dog, the officials said on Tuesday.

DNA samples from the bears and the attack scene were sent to a Gainesville laboratory to test whether one of the animals killed 89-year-old Robert Markel near his house in the early Monday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. The attack occurred in a rural area east of Naples south of the Big Cypress Wildlife Management area.

Wildlife officers secured the area and found several traps and cameras on Monday evening, officials said. From great caution, the officials asked the public to remain vigilant and avoid the area.

Florida's black bears that were once threatened have increasingly hiked to neighborhoods and private property in recent years because new developments have intervened in their territory, especially in North and Central Florida.