December 08, 2016
Source/Pennsylvania Game Commission
A mother bear and her three cubs were found dead in a church parking lot in northeastern Pennsylvania on Dec. 6, 2016.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is seeking information from the public about the "suspicious" death of a mother bear and her three cubs whose carcasses were discovered Tuesday in the parking lot of a church about 15 miles southeast of Scranton.
State Wildlife Conservation officers responded to a call at St. Monica's Church in West Wyoming, Luzerne County, around 8 a.m. Tuesday after the four bears were found in the property's parking lot, according to local ABC affiliate WNEP16. One churchgoer said the person who discovered the bears initially thought they were sleeping until he came back out and they hadn't moved.
The game commission regards the bears' deaths as highly suspicious. None of the them showed any signs of external injuries or bullet wounds, wildlife officials said, and it was unusual that they would all have died in the same public place. One possibility investigators are considering is that the bears were poisoned.
All four of the bears were common sights around that part of Luzerne County, Conservation Officer William Williams told the news station. They had all been tagged and relocated to the Bear Creek game lands after they were found in Swoyersville over the summer, but they made their way back.
Anyone with information about what happened to the four bears is asked to contact the Northeast Region of the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 570-675-1143 or dial the Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-888-PGC-8001.
