Sevierville is about 30 miles from Knoxville in East Tennessee, north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The owner of a vehicle parked in a rental cabin found the bear in the car around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday; the owner of the car said they left the cab in another vehicle around 10am.
Officials believe the bear managed to open the unlocked car with teeth or paws and fell into a trap after the door closed. The bear seemed to be reaching for an empty box of soda and a package of food on the floor, the statement added.
“We believe that the heat probably killed the bear, as outside temperatures exceeded 95 degrees yesterday, which means that the interior of the vehicle probably reached over 140 degrees,” the statement said.
The agency said people should lock their car doors, turn the windows “and never leave food or anything that smells like food inside!”
The bears have a sense of smell that is seven times stronger than that of a greyhound, the agency added.
The heat hit south this week, with heat warnings continuing for more than 40 million people from Texas to Florida, including Dallas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mobile and Jacksonville.
CNN’s Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.
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