A black bear seen swimming in the Gulf of Mexico Friday morning walked into the first floor of a Naples condo building, prompting a large response from FWC officers and Naples police.
FWC says the 300-pound male bear entered a construction area on the first floor of the Lausanne Condominiums on Gulf Shore Boulevard North. Construction workers closed off the area to contain the bear until wildlife officials arrived.
FWC Bear Management and Law Enforcement staff safely captured the bear using chemical immobilization drugs. A biologist darted the animal, and it will be assessed by FWC veterinary staff before being relocated to a more suitable area.
Resident Laurie Krakora said she had just returned from an exercise class when she found out she couldn’t get into her building.
“They said, you can’t. It’s locked down. There’s a bear inside the building. So, of course, I thought they were joking. And, they said no ... he wandered in from the beach. He was walking down the beach, and — we’re doing construction, so a door was open," Krakora said.
Staff from the condo next door captured video of the bear swimming in the Gulf, then charging toward a person on the beach before heading into the building. No injuries were reported.
Dan Herwig, who lives in the building, said the bear entered during a meeting about post-Hurricane Ian renovations.
“We were down in one of the rooms, and the manager came over and said, 'There’s a bear in our room,' and we’re laughing ... yeah, right, there’s really a bear. Well, it turns out, I mean, it wasn’t just a little bear, which I expected. You know, this is a big bear. The bear, easily, when he lifted his head, would come up to my waist," Herwig said. "It’s the first guest that we have that we probably would like to evict pretty soon.”
FWC says spring is a time when bears are more active as they search for food, water, or a mate. Juvenile bears — those around 1½ to 2½ years old — also start to leave their mothers’ ranges and may be seen in unexpected areas.
FWC asks the public to report any bear encounters that involve aggression, sick or injured animals, or illegal feeding by calling the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922). More information can be found at
MyFWC.com/Bear
and
BearWise.org
.