The Concord Monitor has reported some very sad news: toxicology reports revealed that four bears who were found dead in September in New Hampshire had died from eating too much chocolate that had been left out as bait. Actual death by chocolate.

The bears had been ployed with ninety pounds of chocolate and doughnuts, which would be hard to turn down, whether presented to bear or human. The animals reportedly ate the doughnuts then moved on to the chocolate, but bears don't mix well with theobromine, an ingredient found in chocolate, especially when it is consumed in large quantities. From the Concord Monitor:

Conservation officers found the dead female bears within 50 feet of an undisclosed bait site in northern New Hampshire. Two cubs and two adult bears were transported to diagnostic labs at the University of New Hampshire, where a necropsy was performed. The necropsy and subsequent toxicology report found the bears had died of heart failure triggered by poisoning by theobromine, a natural and toxic ingredient found in chocolate. The bears were otherwise healthy.

Andrew Timmins, New Hampshire's Fish and Game Department's bear project leader, addressed the deaths at a Fish and Game Commission on Wednesday, indicating that new guidelines need to be put in place that prohibit using chocolate as bear bait because no one can tell how much chocolate is too much chocolate. Good call.

[Image via Getty]