A HUGE 500lb bear nicknamed Big Bruin went on a garbage-eating rampage near a university campus before rescuers captured him.
The animal had roamed alongside residents in Greeneville, Tennessee, and had even “become habituated to human and unnatural foods.”
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The black bear is said to have set up camp near Tusculum University over the last few years but has recently ramped up its destructive sprees.
Big Bruin had grown accustomed to devouring garbage, birdseed and pet food, seeing it reach the upper limit of a black bear’s size.
Rescuers at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency decided the animal needed to be relocated due to its close proximity to humans.
They also feared its “increasing potential for negative interaction” after causing more frequent property damage last year.
But the mischievous bear changed its travel routine, forcing Wildlife Officers to trawl the area to find him.
Officers Ryan Rosier, Austin Wilson, and Sgt. David Carpenter later discovered Big Bruin in a small vacant wood lot and were able to “free-range tranquilize it”, the agency said in a Facebook post.
The team then shared a snap posing with the tranquilized animal as it lay sedated in the woodland.
They then roped in the Greenville Fire Department to help relocate the bear to a remote area of the Cherokee National Forest.
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The post continued: “They were glad to help and were able to use some of their specialized equipment to expedite the process.”
Big Bruin was then dropped off around 40 miles away from his old stomping ground.
It comes ahead of an expected rise in reports regarding nuisance bears in April, as the animals begin to emerge from their winter dens and search for food.
According to TWRA: “Bears that habituate to human presence eventually become a threat to human safety.”
The agency also explained that “bears attracted to human food sources, or that are deliberately fed by humans, have a relatively short life.”
Black bears are extremely common in the state of Tennessee and regularly reside near human habitats.
Although they are “usually tolerant” of people, TWRA advises locals to still “treat them as wild animals” due to their unpredictable behavior.
Despite the threat, other than hunting over baited areas, there are no statewide laws against the intentional or unintentional feeding of wildlife, including bears.
We previously told how a 500lb bear known as Hank the Tank wreaked havoc on at least 40 California homes while hunting for food.
He was spared from death row after DNA cleared him as the prime suspect in a string of break-ins.
Hank is known in the area as a “gentle giant” who is constantly hungry.
