Note: we are republishing this story which originally made the news in December 2016.<\/p>\n
The cause of death of multiple bears that were discovered in a Pennsylvania church parking lot has been revealed.<\/p>\n
The West Wyoming Borough Police Department was called to St. Monica\u2019s Parish to investigate the discovery of three dead bear cubs and their nearly 300-pound mother, the department said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
The department called in the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the animal\u2019s deaths were labeled as suspicious.<\/p>\n
The commission asked the public for help via Facebook to find out what happened to the bears.<\/p>\n
There were no \u201csigns of bullet wounds or external trauma\u201d to the animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe consider the deaths of these bears highly suspicious,\u201d Game Commission Northeast Region Law Enforcement Supervisor Mark Rutkowski said. \u201cToxicological testing will be performed in an attempt to determine a cause of death.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Game Commission revealed on Facebook the bears likely cause of death: poisoning.<\/p>\n
The four bears were found dead in or around the same tree without \u201cevidence of thrashing or stumbling in the area\u2026suggesting they died suddenly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mother bear and a cub were given a post-mortem examination and toxicological testing at the Penn State Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in State College.<\/p>\n
By examining their stomach contents, it was discovered they had recently consumed leaves and seeds of an English yew (Taxus baccata) plant.<\/p>\n
The English yew is a plant with lance-shaped leaves and produces a \u201cred berry-like cupped structure called an \u2018aril\u2019 that contains a single brown seed. It is widely cultivated in eastern North America as an ornamental shrub and often found in urban environments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every species of yew contains the alkaloid compound taxine, which is toxic to most animals and humans if ingested, the commission said. In the winter months, the toxicity level of the yew increases, and is cardiotoxic, which impacts the heart\u2019s ability to beat properly.<\/p>\n
Organic chemical screens were performed on the stomach contents, liver and kidneys of the bears to test for the presence of pesticides, euthanasia agents and environmental contaminants. The results of these screens, as well as a tests for the presence of ethylene glycol (a compound found in antifreeze) were all negative,\u201d the department wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the presence of the leaves and seeds in the stomach of the bears led to the conclusion that their deaths were from plant toxin poisoning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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