The plot continues to thicken in a peculiar case of Floridian transplants. It’s been over a month since a sheriff’s deputy picked up a pair of out-of-state illegals (no, not that kind), on a Florida highway. Responding to a call from concerned motorists on a highway in Florida’s panhandle region, deputy Amanda Baliel came upon a pair of friendly kodiak brown bears wandering aimlessly on the highway in the early morning hours.
Motorists reported that the bears seemed friendly, but noted that they were not bears typically found in the region (read: they weren’t black bears). The deputy’s body cam footage, which was released last week, has since made its rounds on the internet, capturing the attention of many, including officials at Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
While the footage shows the friendly demeanor of the bears, officials had bigger questions that had not yet been answered – like how two brown bears ended up 4,000 miles away from their home range.
The investigation eventually led officials to 53-year-old Shae Hensley of Baker, Florida. A ‘self-proclaimed’ bear trainer, Hensley told officials that he acquired the bears in February 2023 with all of the proper licensing and permits in place.
He was allegedly training the bears for their rightful owner, Larry Wallach of New York. Reportedly a well-known fixture in the New York animal trade (think Joe Exotic, but from New York), FWC since confirmed that Wallach has no documentation indicating that he was licensed or permitted to have the animals in Florida.
Wallach’s name is also prominently displayed on the Human Society’s hitlist, having him listed as someone who has a “long history of federal animal welfare act violations.”
FWC later indicated that the licenses acquired by Hensley had expired and his application to obtain the bears was filed about a month later than required. Officials also determined that the property that was used to house the bears was never properly inspected, but noted that a proper enclosure seemed to have been in the works.
Hensley was forthright with information regarding the bear’s eventual escape, admitting that he accidentally left the gate open on the night of the incident.
He’s now facing 11 separate charges including unlawfully importing two Kodiak bears resulting in escape without obtaining a valid import permit required by law, failing to report the escape immediately after discovering they were missing, as well as unlawfully obtaining the species without proper enclosure, among other charges.
The bears were taken to ZooWorld in Panama City Beach where they currently reside. Hensley was also served with a number of warnings for additional violations concerning fox, skunk and racoon enclosures.
His farm is now listed for sale.
