GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WVLT) — TWRA officers said they had no options left but to shoot and kill a family of black bears that had been destroying property near a Gatlinburg vacation destination.

TWRA officer Matt Cameron said that the mother black bear and her four yearling cubs have been rooting through garbage, getting into cars and cabins, even chasing people for several months in the Ski Mountain Road area of Gatliburg. Cameron added that because the mother was teaching her cubs, which are called yearlings because they were born during the last season and are now at least a year old, to disregard humans, they are becoming hostile toward people, which could in turn lead to someone being seriously injured.

He said that shooting the mother and three of her four cubs was a last resort effort, and not something that TWRA takes lightly. It was only done because tranquilizing the bears hasn’t been successful in the past, and the bears’ behavior has only continued to get worse.  READ FULL STORY HERE