Lab tests connect black bear killed by Florida wildlife officers to fatal attack on man and his dog

JEROME Fla AP Lab results have connected one of three black bears killed by wildlife officers in southwest Florida to a fatal attack on a man and his dog a day earlier authorities stated Friday Necropsy results revealed that a -pound -kilogram male bear contained the partial remains of -year-old Robert Markel the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated in a declaration Testing exhibited that same bear s DNA was present on Markel s body inside his home and on the dog s body Wildlife personnel have not explicitly revealed that bear is the one that killed Markel but a preliminary autopsy by the Collier County Diagnostic Examiner discovered that Markel s cause of death is consistent with a bear attack Markel was attacked early Monday near his home in a rural area east of Naples just south of Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area Wildlife officers set several traps and cameras They killed three black bears in the area and sent their remains to a Gainesville lab None of the animals tested positive for rabies leaders revealed Wildlife administrators are still probing the events that led to the attack Florida s black bears which were once threatened have increasingly wandered into neighborhoods and private property in latest years especially in more rural areas of north and central Florida