Bruno The Wandering Bear Euthanized After Getting Hit By A Car

Bruno the Wandering Bear, who gained popularity on social media last year for wandering through several Midwestern states in search of love, has died. The nomadic black bear had to be put down after getting hit by a car.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWS) responded to a Morehouse Parish residence Tuesday after a bear appeared and refused to leave the property. Experts who arrived at the scene found the bear was in distress and had "catastrophic injuries."

Given the severity of his injuries, the wildlife department decided to euthanize the bear.

Officials confirmed that the bear was the famous wandering bear, lovingly dubbed Bruno. At the onset of the pandemic, Bruno traveled hundreds of miles from Wisconsin to Illinois then briefly wandered through Iowa before moving toward Missouri in search of a mate. Bruno was tranquilized in Missouri in July 2020 after getting stuck between two interstate roads and was moved to safety.

According to the LDWF, Bruno sustained the injuries at least a month prior to Tuesday night's discovery. His health had rapidly declined since.

"If there is any way possible a bear can survive an injury, we assist by relocating the animal to a secluded area to give it a chance at survival," LDWF Large Carnivore Program Manager Maria Davidson said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this bear had injuries that would not have been survivable and the decision was made to humanely put it down."

Biologists inspected Bruno's injuries and found that both of the bear's legs were broken. The bear had also been paralyzed from his spinal injuries.

"He had been dragging himself, literally," Davidson said as per AP News.

The bear was an adult but not old, according to Missouri biologists. They estimated Bruno's age to be 2 or 3 years old.

Bruno traveled year-round and not just during the breeding season, Davidson explained. "It's very, very, very rare for an adult bear like that to travel the distance he did... It's very strange behavior," she said.

"Keep Bruno Safe," the Facebook group that followed the bear's journey, has over two hundred thousand members. Sue Kline, who claimed to have started the group, told AP News that Bruno preferred farm fields and forests. She also said the bear never foraged from trash cans and dumpsters.