Did you ever wonder what it would be like to have a 200-pound black bear charge at you?

A video by the Pennsylvania Game Commission of a bear being released from a trap on state game lands in Lower Tyrone Township in Fayette County gives viewers that up close, in-person perspective.

The commission said it was the third time the adult female bear has been trapped and released.

State wildlife conservation officers across Pennsylvania trap and relocate bears on a regular basis. Each time a bear is trapped, the commission is able to learn more about it through its research and tagging methods.

The first time this bear was trapped and released was in 2009, in Somerset County, after it caused some damage to patio furniture. The second time, in 2017, it was trapped and released on state game lands in Fayette County for research purposes.

This time, Wildlife Conservation Officer Charles Schuster said the bear was trapped again for research purposes “to collect data” and released on the same state game lands as 2017. Schuster said it was trapped under the same tree where it was released in 2017.

Schuster confirmed it was he who can be seen fleeing behind the trap—in the opposite direction of the bear—after releasing it in the 35-second video clip.

“I had trapped the bear before and I wasn’t sure how she would react,” Schuster said.

Each year, many Pennsylvanians contact the commission with reports of nuisance bears on their property or in their neighborhoods. It is the most common reason bears are trapped and relocated.

The game commission has recommendations to minimize those potential encounters on its website.

Pennsylvania’s current black bear population is estimated to be more than 20,000, the commission said. These bears can live up to 25 years in the wild.

More information on the black bear population in Pennsylvania is available on the game commission’s website at pgc.pa.gov.

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