Black bear killed while trying to get to pancakes along Tennessee highway

A black bear was hit by a car and killed on a Tennessee highway after it found a delicious snack on the side of the road while it was bulking up for winter, officials with the Appalachian Bear Rescue said on Facebook.

The rescue group, or ABR, said it received a report of an adult black bear that had been struck and killed on Highway 321 coming into Townsend, Tennessee, on Tuesday.

But the bear "was left in a spot much too dangerous for ABR curators to get to safely," agency said, because the road in that area of the highway "quickly becomes steep and curvy as you get closer to the mountains, offering low visibility for drivers."

The group said it was important to move the bear from that area, not only to get it out of the way of oncoming traffic, but also to see whether the bear was a male or a female because if it were a female, there could have been cubs nearby.

On Wednesday, curators with ABR and the town's police chief determined the bear was a male. While inspecting the bear's remains, they then saw what drew the bear to the busy highway in the first place — a platter of pancakes.

"Not even a foot away from the deceased bear lay a platter of discarded pancakes," the ABR said. "With fall hyperphagia in full swing, the male bear probably saw the pancakes as an easy, high caloric meal."

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The ABR continued: "Unfortunately, this meal was the last meal he would ever have."

The agency reminded residents to live responsibly in the area, where black bears are common. Securing your food, garbage and recycling is crucial, the ABR said, adding that throwing unwanted food and trash in the wild is "dangerous for not only bears but all other wildlife as well."

"We hope to use this message to urge the public to refrain from littering alongside our mountain roadways and hopefully save a future bear’s life in the process," the ABR wrote.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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