Black bear shot after straying near I-290

Police say it posed danger to drivers

A 200-pound black bear was shot and killed by state environmental police near Interstate 290 in Worcester during rush hour yesterday morning, officials said.

Worcester police called the environmental police at 7 a.m. to report the bear close to a factory complex near I-290.

By the time environmental police arrived, the bear had moved to a triangle of woods surrounded by I-290, Route 12, and the ramp connecting the two.

Environmental police attempted to temporarily paralyze the bear to relocate it to a better habitat, while state and city police surrounded the area.

When the bear ran toward the highway and posed a danger to motorists, however, an environmental police officer shot it, officials said.

"What we try and do in this situation nearly always is immobilize the bear and move it to a place that's more appropriate. Being wildlife, that does not always happen," said Lisa Capone, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

James Cardoza, a state wildlife biologist who was at the scene, said he thinks the bear was the same one people in nearby areas had reported seeing recently.

The number of black bears, the only bears that make their home in Massachusetts, has been increasing over the years. There were about 100 in Massachusetts in the 1970s and the population grew to about 3,000 in 2005, according to the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

Cardoza said people should not worry about the bears, however. "Bears are very tolerant of people most of the time," he said.