Sevierville is located about 30 miles from Knoxville, east of Tennessee, north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The owner of a vehicle parked in a rental cabin found the bear inside the car around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday; the car owner said they had left the cab in a different vehicle around 10 a.m. that morning.
Officials believe the bear was able to open the unlocked car with his teeth or paws and was trapped after the door closed. It looked like the bear was getting an empty soda can and a food wrap on the floor, the statement added.
“We believe the heat probably killed the bear, as outside temperatures exceeded 95 degrees yesterday, meaning the interior of the vehicle possibly reached over 140 degrees,” the statement said.
The agency said people should close car doors, roll up windows “and never let food or anything smell of food inside!”
Bears have a sense of smell seven times stronger than that of a blood dog, the agency added.
This week, dangerous heat has settled in the south, and heat alerts continue 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.