Overview

• On June 3, 2025, Michigan Department of Natural Resources experts sedated and freed a young black bear near Hillman in the Upper Peninsula.
• First captured on wildlife cameras in 2023, the two-year-old animal carried the plastic lid for its entire juvenile life.
• The barrel lid that trapped the bear had a roughly 13-centimetre opening, well below the state’s minimum requirement of 56 centimetres for bait containers.
• The bear weighed about 50 kilograms and was released in relatively good condition despite scars and fur loss around its neck.
• Michigan allows hunting with bait but mandates large barrel openings to prevent entrapment, with a population of roughly 13,000 black bears.