Black bear from viral falling bear photo killed after being hit by a car

Just a week after being immortalized in a midair photo by University of Colorado student Andy Duann, viral sensation “falling bear” took his non-human fearing bravado a little too far Thursday morning by walking out into the Denver-bound lanes of U.S. 36, where he was struck by a car and died.

From Daily camera:

Jennifer Churchill, spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, confirmed that officials positively identified the bear as the same animal tranquilized April 26 and relocated to a wilderness area about 50 miles west of Boulder.

“It’s a bummer. It’s so hard to go through this and not be able to give these bears a good place to live,” Churchill said. “The community sees relocating bears as a kind of perfect solution, and unfortunately it’s a really difficult proposition.”

The bear was able to be identified thanks to an ear tag placed on him after being tranquilized on the CU campus.

RIP falling bear.

Bear Jordan theme song: “Bears” by Lyle Lovett