{"id":750074,"date":"2026-07-08T07:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/750074\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T07:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:40:19","slug":"bear-euthanized-after-being-hit-by-vehicle-in-wetumpka-bear-sightings-more-common-in-summer-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/750074\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear euthanized after being hit by vehicle in Wetumpka; bear sightings more common in summer months"},"content":{"rendered":"

WETUMPKA, Ala. (WSFA<\/a>) – A young bear has been put down after being struck by a vehicle in Elmore County, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater, confirmed to WSFA 12 News.<\/p>\n

Spokeswoman Marianne Gauldin said the yearling male, a bear in its second summer, was hit by a car on Highway 14 near Bumpers gas station in Wetumpka on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Gauldin said a game warden was dispatched to the area around 2:30 p.m. on reports of an injured bear. She said the injured wild animal had moved off the road and into a yard, then made it to a nearby wood line.<\/p>\n

Authorities found the animal \u201claying down and staying down\u201d about 10 feet further into the woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had extensive physical injuries that were not survivable and would have proven fatal in a short period of time,\u201d Gauldin said. \u201cAfter evaluating its condition, our Officer appropriately dispatched the bear to hasten its pending death without suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bear was removed and buried with help from the Elmore County sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Gauldin says this is the time of year when juvenile male bears are on the move statewide. She noted that, while they\u2019re not yet full grown or old enough to hold their own territory, the bears are too old to stay with their mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very common to see black bears in areas of Alabama where you haven\u2019t typically seen them,\u201d said Marianne Gauldin. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, there are black bear populations in certain pockets of Alabama but in June, July, and even into August, juvenile male black bears that don\u2019t have their own specific territory are wandering statewide between those populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey cover large distances wandering and foraging,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Gauldin reminded residents that bears are a natural part of Alabama\u2019s wildlife landscape and urged anyone who makes a sighting to report it so Wildlife and Fisheries can enter it into their database.<\/a><\/p>\n

She also urged residents never to approach a bear or attempt to feed one. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see a bear on your property, remove attractants such as trash cans\/outdoor pet food\/deer feeders\/bird feeders for at least 2 weeks so that the bear does not become acclimated to free meals,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever approach a bear, and make sure it sees you: wave your arms, clap, holler, and allow the bear to move away from you via an easy escape route,\u201d she added. \u201cDo not corner a bear or run from it. A black bear that\u2019s behaving normally will spook away from people.\u201d<\/p>\n

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This article has been updated to clarify the incident happened Sunday, not Monday. <\/p>\n

Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the Apple App Store<\/a> and the Google Play Store<\/a>! <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WETUMPKA, Ala. (WSFA) – A young bear has been put down after being struck by a vehicle in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[23,151351,11551,14806,10099,574,16179,6906,1302,115652,3071,103231,278775,163290,32850,17152,54904,8609,3235,115699,694,36442,6270,9264,25402,25691,41452,3591,2092,698,8510,278776,50359,1583,103235,1472,79,103237,2095,2987,10127,6145,19,24,10129,282,201],"class_list":["post-750074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-america","tag-apprehended","tag-arrest","tag-auto","tag-automobile","tag-blue","tag-boat","tag-car","tag-cars","tag-classic","tag-crime","tag-crime-scene","tag-crime-scene-background","tag-crime-scene-investigation","tag-criminal","tag-criminal-justice","tag-danger","tag-death","tag-emergency","tag-emergency-services-vehicle","tag-homicide","tag-illuminated","tag-investigation","tag-justice","tag-killing","tag-light","tag-lights","tag-lot","tag-motor","tag-murder","tag-old","tag-parked","tag-parking","tag-police","tag-police-car","tag-red","tag-science","tag-siren","tag-speed","tag-traffic","tag-transport","tag-transportation","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-usa","tag-vehicle","tag-water","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}