Browsing Bear Forces Evacuation of Pennsylvania Shopping Center
OutdoorHub Reporters 07.24.12
In a strange display, a disoriented young female black bear ran into a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania shopping center and ran up and down the aisles while panicked shoppers were evacuated.
“It darted past several people. They didn’t even know it was a bear,” shopper Matt Marcinik told local media.
The bear sprinted through automatic doors that lead to the Sears department store in the Pittsburgh Mills center Saturday, July 21. A Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesperson said this bear was previously captured outside of Johnstown for a study and was released with a tracking device. It had traveled roughly 150 miles before it was captured again in the Pittsburgh mall.
The young bear weighed only about 125 pounds. It growled at some customers before getting stuck between double doors. Many people were casually walking out until one employee yelled out, “there’s a bear!” At that point, everybody ran out, according to reports by CBS.
Experts are investigating how it ended up in the area and how it made its way into the shopping center. According to CBS Pittsburgh, another male bear was spotted around several restaurants near the Pittsburgh Mills Mall around 6:30 a.m. Monday. It was shooed back into the woods behind a Walmart. Experts with the Game Commission believe it followed the scent of the female black bear from two days prior.
Below is footage just before and after the capture of the bear.
httpv://youtu.be/g_rO9eo3NLA
