A marauding bear killed and started to eat a 350-pound bull calf early today near Callicoon.

Lt. Deming Lindsley of the Department of Environmental Conservation police said the calf had been tied to a tree at the farm of Jeff Kays on Gable Road.

Wildlife technician Carl Lindsley went to the farm yesterday and found the bear’s tracks. The calf had been partly eaten. The bear had tried to drag the carcass into a field, but couldn’t because of the rope.

Lt. Lindsley said that because the bear has attacked livestock, Kays or an employee can legally shoot the bear without a permit if it returns.

Also today, at Moonlight Bungalows on Rubin Road near Monticello, the DEC caught a 425-pound male bear in a culvert trap. This is the same colony where a 205-pound female bear and 8-month-old two cubs where chased away from the trash bins last week. The DEC says the mother bear had returned, and on Monday she got caught in the culvert trap.

ROL