Wildlife officials trap, kill record-sized black bear

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Florida wildlife officials have trapped and killed the state’s biggest black bear on record.

Officials say the animal – which weighed 740 pounds – had been roaming in neighborhoods in Seminole County before being killed Sunday. According to a bear biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it is likely it grew beyond the 250-pound average for adult male black bears by eating curbside garbage in addition to its normal diet of berries and nuts.

The Orlando Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1GwCMcu) reports that the previous Florida record for a captured or killed black bear was 620 pounds. It was caught in Lake County in 2013.

Wildlife officials are set to discuss bear-management strategies next month and may explore the first bear hunt in Florida since 1994.