
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 27, 1995                   TAG: 9506270084
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BLACK BEAR, CAPTURED AT DIXIE CAVERNS, DIES

The 400-pound black bear that was captured after it ambled into the Dixie Caverns area of Roanoke County has died.

The male bear, which was to be released into the wild, drew a crowd of onlookers Saturday when it was seen bedded in a thicket next to a highway on-ramp.

Jay Jeffreys, one of the two state biologists who tranquilized the bear Sunday morning, said he suspected from the bear's reaction after the first tranquilizer shot that it had been injured.

The bear got up, looked around and lay back down, Jeffreys said.

``We knew something was wrong, because he did not run,'' he said.

The bear also required three times the usual dosage of tranquilizer to be sedated, probably because of its injuries, Jeffreys said.

The bear died shortly after it was captured. A ``field necropsy,'' or animal autopsy, showed massive internal bleeding and injuries.

Jeffreys said the bear probably had been hit by a car, which would explain its docile behavior when people approached.

by CNB