State wildlife officers looked for the bear for three weeks after reports he was caught in the unfortunate headgear. The Knoxville News Sentinel said the male bear was roaming the area around Newport, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
On July 17, wildlife officer Shelly Hammonds was checking another sighting report when the animal ran in front of her vehicle. Hammonds sedated it with a tranquillizer dart and the bear collapsed in downtown Newport, where dozens of people watched the jar removal.
The bear weighed just 115 pounds, when it should have weighed around 200. It was released into the Cherokee National Forest.
