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LAKE MARY, Fla. (AP) — Three people in central Florida face charges for feeding bears and other wildlife in an area where a woman was mauled by one in April.
The charges are second-degree misdemeanors. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, one person in the woman's Lake Mary neighborhood pleaded not guilty Friday.
Two others pleaded no contest and were sentenced to 25 hours of community service and a $200 payment to the commission's wildlife alert hotline.
After the attack on Terri Frana in her driveway, wildlife authorities killed more than a half-dozen bears that showed signs of being accustomed to human food, either from garbage or human feeding.
Commission bear management program coordinator Dave Telesco says feeding bears may reduce their natural fear of people, which can lead to someone getting seriously injured and the animals being killed.
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