Question: What happens to the carcasses of road-killed animals, specifically the bear that was killed in a Monday night traffic accident near Hauser?

Answer: They generally go to a landfill, but in this case, the bear is staying on the side of the road.

Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Jared Castle said ODOT workers moved the carcass to the side of the road after the accident. They covered it with foliage and left it there to decompose.

Castle said roadkill used to be taken to food pantries, but those days are gone. Wildlife Safari in Winston sometimes will take a dead animal as feed, but only if it's fresh.

Stuart Love, ODFW's district wildlife biologist in Charleston, said the problem is safety. In the case on Monday, the animal died about 9 p.m., and ODFW only learned of it Tuesday morning.

"The likelihood that the meat was usable, it was pretty low," he said. "And we don't know the health status of the animal before it was killed."

Testing a dead animal for disease is expensive, Love said.

ODFW sometimes takes a specimen for studies, but not in this case.

(I Want to Know is a regular feature of The World, offering readers a chance to anonymously ask questions and have reporters pursue answers. Those interested can send questions to The World newspaper, P.O. Box 1840, Coos Bay Ore. 97420; or by sending e-mail to news@theworldlink.com.)