DNR: Bear found dead in northern Indiana appears hit by car
FILE PHOTO: American black bear (Ursus americanus). (Photo by C. Dani & I. Jeske / De Agostini Picture Library via Getty Images)
BRISTOL, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says the carcass of a black bear found this week in far northern Indiana had many fractured bones, injuries that are consistent with having been struck by a motor vehicle.
DNR mammalogist Brad Westrich said Friday the fractures were discovered during a necropsy at the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University.
DNR officials found the carcass Wednesday morning along State Road 15 in the Elkhart County town of Bristol, near the entrance to the Indiana Toll Road.
The DNR had not received reports of black bears in the area since 2015 before finding this bear.