Bear caught ‘dumpster diving’ in EBR neighborhood

EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, La. (WAFB) - A bear was caught digging through trash cans in a neighborhood in Central on Wednesday morning, May 28.

According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, this happened around 9 a.m. on GlenWatts Road near Hooper Road.

“While he claimed it was just a ‘snack emergency,’ our deputies kindly reminded him that dumpster diving is a bear-y bad idea,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a post on Facebook.

There is no perceived danger to the public, according to the sheriff’s office.

In a post on Facebook, the Central Police Department confirmed the bear has been traveling around the area for the last couple of days.

Central police stressed that while it is not an aggressive animal, it is a wild animal.

“It will normally run away, but if cornered, you could possibly get hurt,” wrote police. They warned residents not to feed the bear and to be careful when driving near where the bear has been spotted.

“Please do not feed or put food out for the bear. We don’t want anyone to be hurt and don’t want the bear to be harmed either. The bear is a visitor to our city. Slow down if you see the bear close to the roadway, we don’t want it to be struck by a vehicle,” added police.

Central police told residents not to confront the bear, saying to “let it move on.”

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has been notified.

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