Update on First Recorded Fatal Bear Attack in Florida

The initial investigation of the first fatal bear attack, which has been recorded in Florida, has been released.  From Naplesnews.com:

A post-mortem exam of the bears found Markel’s partial remains in the body of a 263-pound male. Tests confirmed that bear’s DNA also was on Markel, in his home and on the body of a family dog.

The entire report is available from myfwc.com. Several things stand out in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report. While it may seem trivial to some, the first sentence shows a bias toward minimizing the danger of bear attacks:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has concluded its initial investigation into what is confirmed to be the first fatal Florida black bear attack in state history this week in Jerome, Florida.

This is almost certainly *not* the “first fatal Florida black bear attack in state history. Much depends on how you define “state history”.  Many would say “state history” extends to the entire historical record. The state of Florida seems to agree.  The first written records of Florida were made in 1513. From fl.gov:

Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de León in 1513. Sometime between April 2 and April 8, Ponce de León waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine. He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua florida (“feast of the flowers”), Spain’s Eastertime celebration. Other Europeans may have reached Florida earlier, but no firm evidence of such achievement has been found.

A more accurate description of the fatal attack in 2025 would be to describe it as the “first recorded” fatal black bear attack in state history.  From 1513 until 1845, when Florida became a state, is over 330 years, during which very few written records of wildlife confrontations were kept. Almost certainly, black bears in Florida killed some people during that period, before cartridge firearms became available, when Florida remained mostly wilderness.

In a previous AmmoLand article on the attack, a relative reported a bear had killed a family dog. Then the relative stated their grandfather was missing, and their camper was “destroyed”. The relative had last seen her grandfather the night before.

The relative of 89-year-old Robert Markel called 911 to report that a bear had killed Markel’s dog as the relative had watched, and that the elderly relative was missing. The call was made about 7 a.m. From fox4news.com:

“No, he’s gone completely. His whole camper was destroyed,” the 911 caller said. “He’s not in there. He’s 89-years-old…he can’t run. He literally can’t even walk without falling over,” he added.

The granddaughter told deputies on scene the last time she saw her grandfather was 7:30 p.m. Sunday. 

The call appears to make clear the dog was killed after Robert Markel went missing, his trailer was trashed by something (presumably the bear), and almost certainly after Markel was dragged a hundred yards away, killed, and his body covered in dirt and leaves. The report appears to put such a sequence in doubt. From the report:

The remains of 89-year-old Robert Markel were found approximately 100 yards from his home. Investigators noted several key findings: (1) evidence indicating a physical encounter between a bear and a person near the residence; (2) a dog recently killed by a bear in close proximity to a person; and (3) signs that a bear had entered the residence itself. The exact sequence of events remains unclear.

One of the three bears killed by investigators had remains of Markel in its digestive system. It was a male that weighed 263 lbs. All three bears killed had DNA that matched the DNA found at the scene. The FWC report shows that in the year before the attack, three bears were relocated and “hazed,” and one other bear was killed.

The FWC received 16 bear-related calls within a 10-mile radius of nearby Copeland between May 5, 2024, and May 4, 2025, resulting in five site visits, five capture efforts, three bears that were relocated and hazed, and one bear that was humanely killed.

The FWC report does not say if any of the bears “relocated” matched the DNA of the bears that were killed near the attack site.  “Relocated” bears have a long history of returning to the area where they were captured.

If the DNA of the “relocated” bears matches that of the three bears at the attack site, the FWC might be found legally liable. Such was the case in Arizona with the attack on a camper on Mt. Lemmon, near Tucson, AZ.  This correspondent would expect DNA samples to be routinely taken from any captured bear.  FWC has a fiscal duty to the public to attempt to shield itself from lawsuits. They also have a duty to the public to warn them of potential dangers. They have a duty to preserve evidence and scientific data.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.