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Hard Rock Bruin Nabbed, Sent Packing to Ocala

Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission

A black bear sleeps peacefully after being captured.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 1, 2008

Updated: 06/01/2008 05:55 pm

A black bear whose poolside amble last week caused a stir at the glitzy Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando was captured today, four days after security guards spotted him. Sunday, he was whisked to Ocala National Forest and set free.

He was sedated for easier handling, and the groggy bruin woke up to a new tattoo and a piercing.

"We caught the bear in a culvert trap late (Saturday) night around 10," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Joy Hill.

She said it was a 180-pound young male in good condition. After biologists took DNA samples, the bear was given an orange plastic ear tag naming him "E126" as well as a lip tattoo for future identification, she said.

"We released him early this morning into the Ocala National Forest," Hill said. "When we opened the trap, the bear booked it out of there in a hurry.

"That's all we have," she said. "I hope this is the last we hear from this bear."

Hotel security spotted the beast lumbering around the pool area early Wednesday morning. He likely came out of the nearby woods, looking to carve out a territory of his own, biologists said.

The bear, a Florida black bear, is not aggressive and wasn't considered a threat to people, as long as it was left alone, said Sara Sillars, a commission biologist who specializes in bears.

"They are docile and nonconfrontational," she said last week. "We've never had an attack in Florida. We encourage people to stay away from them, and if they see them in their yards to just scare them off by making a lot of noise."

Sillars said last week that she was not shocked the bear put in a hotel guest appearance.

"Disney and Universal are surrounded by a lot of wild land," Sillars said "It does not surprise me, and it's getting hot, and bears are looking to cool down somewhere.

"We mostly have gotten reports of sightings in orange groves," Sillars said, "or that they were just wandering around and somebody just happens to see them."

The Sunshine State is the only place the Florida black bear is found. Adult females range from 150 to 250 pounds, and males can tip the scales at 350 pounds.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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