Don't Feed the Bears

A mall near Orlando saw some unexpected excitement when a 200-pound bear was spotted hanging out in a tree near the shopping center's entrance.

No one was hurt, and the bear was soon cornered just outside a J.C. Penney store, where it lost consciousness and was carted away.

But just before noon today, the western parking lot at Seminole Towne Center Mall was like a scene from Marlin Perkins' Wild Kingdom.

Law enforcement officers, mall security personnel and firefighters from Seminole County and Sanford had roped off a wide swath of parking lot to keep onlookers away from the bear.

It was about 15 feet up in a pine tree on the far edge of the parking lot, a few feet from an Interstate 4 off-ramp and about 200 yards from the mall entrance.