Three bears killed in a fatal attack near Collier Area; DNA is tested

In an area of ​​Collier County, three black bears were killed, in which a man and a dog were fatally attacked on Monday.

The attack in the early Monday led to the death of 89-year-old Robert Markel and the dog of his family in State Road 29 and USA 41, south of the Big Cypress Wildlife area, in a community of the Collier County district known as Jerome.

During a media information on Tuesday, Roger Young, Managing Director of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said, the agency continued to examine the fatal attack on wildlife and advised that participation of more than one bear was a way.

“The attack led to the death of … Markel, a long -time inhabitant of Jerome, Florida, and a second attack led to the loss of the family dog,” said Young. “FWC has secured the scope and several traps and cameras have been placed in the entire area.”

Young added that FWC employees killed three bears on Monday evening. DNA samples from the scene and the three bears were sent to Gainesville for testing. We are now waiting for the results of the DNA test

“DNA samples from the scene and the three bears were sent to Gainesville for testing and we are waiting for these results,” he said.

Young also repeated a warning that asked the residents and visitors to remain vigilant and to avoid the area.

“Do not accept yourself or try to follow wild animals,” he urged. “Law enforcement authorities and FWC employees continue to monitor bear activity and ensure public security.”

Young said the investigation was still at an early stage.

“If we receive further information, we will provide you with this,” he said. “We are here at this point.”

Young said the bears who were killed on Monday were part of the protocol for such incidents.

“As part of the protocol after an incident like this, our directive says that we will try to catch or take all the bears that could be involved,” he said. “We send these bears and take DNA samples from the victims from the area from the bears that were brought to the laboratory so that we can compare it through DNA tests.”

The tests would try to achieve the materials found on or in the bears to the human or animal victims, said Young and added that the results were in about 24 hours.

When asked whether the daughter of Martel was safe in the house in which the deaths had occurred, Young said that various efforts had been made.

“We have several officers in the scene on the property, and during the time we still set up traps and we do everything we can. We have had discussions with you. We regularly communicated with you,” he said. “We work with you to ensure that you feel safe on the property, and we do everything you can to protect you there and ensure that you are safe there. And then these efforts will continue to be completed.”

Mike Orlando, coordinator of the FWC Bear Management program, said it was possible that further animal murders will take place as justified.

“Until we can definitely say which bears were involved, we would continue these efforts until we can make this decision,” he said. “If we go through the investigation throughout the day, we will send them to Gainesville in addition to testing if we capture or kill additional bears.”

So far, no confirmed and documented human deaths have been carried out by bears in Florida, although the examination in question is still ongoing, confirmed an FWC official. Comprehensive records were first kept by the agency in the 1970s.

While it is rare for bears to hurt people in Florida, the people of bears were bitten and scratched who defend themselves, cubs or food sources, said the FWC.

Since the start of the admission of the admission, FWC 42 has recorded incidents with black-bear-human participation in injuries. Including two such incidents in Collier County, 2008 and 2018, and one in Lee, 2019.

In many of these cases, such as the deadly incident this morning, people were accompanied by a corner tooth, as FWC statistics show.

In the incident on Monday, Orlando said that a dog was involved.

“Dogs and bears really don't understand. We see that they really don't like throughout the state. So they have conflicts with dogs quite often,” said Orlando. “The problem that a person is not only injured, but also killed by a bear is extremely rare. It is the first time that we had this in our state's history, and it is rare not only in the whole country.”

Orlando said the cause of the attack was unknown at that time.

“I don't really know how to answer the question, why this bear did what he did, but we are in the process of finding it all out,” he said.

WGCU is your trustworthy source for news and information in the southwest of Florida. We are a non -profit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate Now. Thank you very much.

Copyright 2025 WGCU