A large male black bear attacked and killed a donkey on a farm in Outagamie County last week, and was killed later by a conservation warden for the Department of Natural Resources.

Such attacks by bears are rare in Wisconsin, but not unheard of. Bears are omnivores and for years have been a nuisance at campgrounds and resorts.

“We think of black bears as doughnut eaters, but they do feed on deer carcasses,” said conservation warden Mike Young, who has worked at the DNR for 20 years.

Usually, nuisance bears are trapped and relocated, but if they kill livestock, the DNR says it’s the agency’s policy to kill them.

Young said Wednesday he responded to a call from the owner of a hobby farm who lives about 6 miles north of Shiocton. The man said a bear had killed his donkey April 18.

The bear had tried to pull the donkey out of the enclosure, but could not, and when Young arrived, the dead donkey was caught in the fencing. The donkey had been partially eaten.

Two llamas were also inside the fence but were not harmed. A peacock apparently lost its tail feathers.

“He wreaked a little havoc in there,” Young said.

A neighbor said that chickens were killed at his farm, according to Young.

The frozen ground this spring is probably making it harder for bears to find food, the warden said.

Young and a wildlife employee with the U.S. Department of Agriculture set out a trap the next day. That night, Young wounded the bear outside the trap.

On Saturday afternoon, he spotted the bear about a quarter mile from the farm with the help of a friend and the friend’s bear hunting dogs.

The bear, which weighed 300 pounds, was killed in a tree and removed by the DNR.