Three black bears have been killed by Tennessee wildlife officers after a woman survived an encounter with them, according to WBIR.

What's happening?

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) had placed traps around an area in Gatlinburg where bears had destroyed a car while attempting to get to groceries that were found inside. 

Later, a woman nearby reported that she was bitten and dragged from her porch by a bear. Luckily, she emerged unscathed. 

TWRA officers searched the area and found a young bear in one of the traps they had set. Once there, the officers encountered an adult female bear and another yearling. It was decided to "lethally remove" all three due to the safety risk they posed, based on these two incidents.    

The TWRA reported that 65 bears were euthanized in 2024, 32 for behavior problems. These three were the first killed in 2025. 

Why are wildlife encounters concerning?

The crux of the issue is that wild animals become habituated to humans after repeated contact. 

"The level of risk posed by these bears was significant," said the TWRA, per WBIR. "These animals had become food-conditioned and habituated to human presence, resulting in repeated property damage and increasingly bold behavior, including entering vehicles and, ultimately, this human encounter."

When there's an added food incentive, or offspring nearby, animals can become violent. Appalachia has seen these sorts of threatening situations before. Some of them can even turn deadly.   

What's being done about wildlife encounters?

As these black bear incidents were outside of city limits, there are no penalties for leaving trash or food where wildlife could sniff it out. 

In other jurisdictions, those fines can be in the neighborhood of $200. Some think there should be stronger federal laws to dissuade careless behavior from nature enthusiasts. 

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"We need our legislature to step up to pass some laws that give our bears at least a fighting chance," said Greg Grieco, the director of operations at Appalachian Bear Rescue, per WBIR.

"We're supposed to care about bears, but we have more bear conflict than anywhere else in the country in this area," Grieco continued. "It results in detriment to our bears. So we love our bears, but we don't love them enough to pass some laws to help them."

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