A 300-pound female black bear and three cubs were found dead Dec. 6 near a church parking lot in West Wyoming Borough, Luzerne County. Examination of the bears suggested they were poisoned after ingesting English yew. Yew was growing in the area where the bears died, and parts from the ornamental shrub was found in the stomachs of the bears examined. Common shrub suspected in bears' deaths Sow and three cubs found dead; English yew found in bears' stomachs. The ingestion of English yew - a common ornamental shrub - is the likely cause of death for a 300-pound female bear and three cubs that died Dec. 6 in Luzerne County. Game Commision wildlife veterinarian Justin Brown said it's the first case of which he's ever heard of black bears dying from yew intoxication. A query of several bear biologists from the northeastern United States and eastern Canada also resulted in no reports of previously documented yewrelated deaths in black bears. But a "perfect storm" of circumstanc38 es and conditions might have caused the bears to be poisoned. The four bears were found dead near a church parking lot in West Wyoming Borough. They showed no signs of bullet wounds or other external trauma. All were found dead in the same are, and there was no evidence of thrashing or stumbling, suggesting the bears died suddenly. Game Commission personnel transported the sow and one cub to the Penn State Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in State College for post-mortem examination and toxicological testing. The