GREENSBORO, N.C. — A bear died when a vehicle hit it Thursday morning on Interstate 85 near the Burlington-Greensboro border, according to N.C. Wildlife Resources.
The bear was likely a male, and NCWR estimates the creature’s weight at about 100 pounds.
According to the Wildlife Resources, young male bears often begin to leave their mothers and roam at about this time of year.
A biologist and an enforcement officer responded to the scene.
Wildlife officials took the body so a biologist studying the black bear population could pull a tooth for study.
While the N.C. Department of Transportation typically incinerates roadkill, wildlife officials buried the body due to this special circumstance.