Crime & Safety

Nearby: 300-Pound Black Bear Hit on Ga. 400

Nearby Sandy Springs: A motorist notified authorities that he struck a bear on Sunday night.

By Brande Poulnot 

A deceased black bear that stifled traffic Monday morning on Ga. 400 in Cumming was taken to a university, according to Georgia Department of Natural Resources authorities.

A motorist notified the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office he had struck the bear at 11:38 p.m. Sunday, spokesman Doug Rainwater said, adding the driver declined to file a police report.

Traffic reports of the dead black bear on the right shoulder of northbound GA 400 at Pilgrim Mill Road in Cumming started after 7 a.m. Monday morning. Patch tipster Nicole Anglin, who said traffic slowed due to onlookers, added a police officer had to dispatch the bear.

Someone—not the motorist involved in the crash—retrieved the body of the 300-pound female black bear, transported it to a nearby DNR office and secured the necessary paperwork to take possession of the deceased animal, DNR Region Supervisor Ken Riddleberger said. The man said he was going to donate it to a university, according to Riddleberger.

"Bears live all around us," Riddleberger said. "It was just one of the resident bears trying to cross from one place to another."

Authorities determined the bear had no cubs because it was not lactating, Riddleberger added.

He said the bear, which had to have been older due to its size, was one of about 20 killed on roadways so far this year in north Georgia.

Black bears—omnivorous animals whose diet consists of whatever is readily available at the time—can be found in the north Georgia mountains and along the Ocmulgee River drainage system, according to the DNR. Their numbers have increased to a "healthy" population of more than 5,000 in Georgia.

When homes are within their range, bears are naturally attracted to the smells associated with cooking and garbage disposal. 


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