First, the 100-pound black bear lumbered onto a ramp from Route 20 to Interstate 84 in Sturbridge, causing a state trooper to slam on the brakes of his cruiser to avoid striking the animal Thursday afternoon.
Then, two troopers yelled and waved their arms as they tried frantically to corral the female bear in a confined wooded area between the two highways. That failed, authorities said, as the animal ran toward Route 20, then toward the interstate, and at one point walked to within 20 feet of them.
Finally, fearing that the bear might cause an accident, one of the troopers killed the bear with a single round from his service-issued shotgun, State Police said.
“Their concern was that the bear would run onto traffic on Route 20 or Route 84 west, or walk to a nearby Hampton Inn,” said David Procopio, spokesman for the State Police. “There was no other place for the bear to go without crossing a major road and putting motorists at risk of hitting it.”
The bear was not sedated because state troopers do not carry tranquilizer darts, and the officers did not feel they had enough time to summon state Environmental Police or someone else with that equipment, he said.
“I wish we did have that option, but we didn’t,” Procopio said. “It is rare that we have to take this action. But any time we do, we are very saddened by it. No one wants to have to do this.”
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell said that killing the bear was “regrettable,” but that judging police tactics is difficult without witnessing the event.
“Everyone is going to Monday-morning-quarterback,” said Rob Halpin, spokesman for MSPCA-Angell.
However, he added, “if the bear had been tranquilized successfully, it could have been pulled clear of the road, and no longer would have been a hazard to motorists and would have recovered and been none the worse for wear.”
Procopio said the use of force will be reviewed as a routine matter of department policy. As for the bear, the animal’s body was provided to a needy family for food.
The black bear population in Massachusetts has jumped exponentially in the past 40 years, with thousands of the animals now living in the state.
Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie @globe.com.