World Courant
A black bear that was being tracked and studied by the Nationwide Park Service was struck and killed this week on the 101 Freeway in Ventura County, authorities mentioned Friday.
The park service initially tagged the bear, referred to as BB-12, in April within the Santa Monica Mountains. He was the primary of his variety to be captured and GPS-tracked within the vary, officers mentioned.
He was estimated to have been 3 or 4 years previous.
Throughout his transient time beneath Nationwide Park Service statement, BB-12 had safely crossed main roads within the area 5 occasions.
The bear had made a number of visits to seashores in Malibu and crossed the 101 Freeway in addition to State Routes 118 and 23, officers mentioned. However “on the sixth time, he sadly bought hit,” mentioned Jeff Sikich, lead discipline biologist for the mountain lion examine within the Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Space.
A motorist contacted the California Freeway Patrol on Thursday to report {that a} bear had been hit by a automobile on the 101 Freeway between Newbury Park and Camarillo, the park service mentioned in an announcement.
A park service biologist who was driving by seen the bear within the roadway median, loaded the 210-pound carcass into his automobile and took it to an NPS facility.
“When any of our radio-collared animals get killed on the highway, it’s unhappy however not that shocking after 20 years of learning these animals within the area,” Sikich mentioned in an announcement. “Roadkill is the primary supply of mortality for our mountain lions, so there’s no purpose to imagine it could be a lot completely different for different massive carnivores.”
Within the days earlier than he was hit, BB-12 was a rambler. He crossed the 118, apparently headed south towards the Santa Monica Mountains, and was captured on video in Moorpark. He then made an look in broad daylight crossing Freeway 23 in Moorpark close to the Tierra Rejada exit.
His final documented location earlier than his dying was in Thousand Oaks.
“He supplied invaluable data within the brief time that we studied him,” Seth Riley, wildlife department chief for the Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Space, mentioned in an announcement. “Large-ranging animals like this younger male bear are particularly helpful for studying about connectivity within the area, and this was definitely true of BB-12, given the 5 main highway crossing[s] that he made in such a short while.”
BB-12 is simply the most recent creature to be killed on Southern California’s roadways. Quite a few mountain lions have additionally met the identical destiny.
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which is beneath building in Agoura Hills, goals to alleviate some security issues for wildlife by giving them secure passage over the 101 Freeway as they discover the area.
Black bear BB-12 struck, killed on 101 Freeway in Ventura County
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