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Black bear spotted in Warren County

By Marie Rossiter, Staff Writer Updated 10:16 AM Thursday, June 11, 2009

Wildlife officers believe a black bear sighted walking in a field near Waynesville is the same one observed in two counties south of Warren County.

The bear was spotted on Lower Springboro on Tuesday, June 9. and on Wednesday, June 10. It was seen near Ohio 73 in Clearcreek Twp., a wildlife official said.

Warren County Emergency Services received two calls regarding the bear between 7:50 p.m. on Tuesday and shortly after midnight on Wednesday. One caller said the bear was in her back yard and her son had turned his car on and was pointing his headlights at the bear.

“Is it naturally supposed to be here?” she asked, before expressing concerns that the bear would attack her son if he exited the car. The son was able to enter his house without incident.

Another caller said the bear had stopped and looked and him and his wife before running back into the woods along Lower Springboro Road.

A video posted on YouTube Wednesday shows the black bear standing in a field near Waynesville. The 39-second video of the Tuesday sighting at Lower Springboro and Township Line roads shows a Warren County sheriff’s deputy slowly approaching the bear before the video cuts off. The video did not show what happened to the bear.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Officer Trent Weaver said based on reports, ODNR believes the bear is a young male, averaging between 125 and 150 pounds. Weaver said black bear sightings in Warren County are rare.

“There are only 30 to 50 black bears in the state of Ohio,” said Weaver. “They usually come over from West Virginia, where there is a good bear population.”

Weaver said reports on the bear started at Sinking Springs in Adams County, with the bear then moving through Brown and Clinton counties before the most recent sightings in northern Warren and southern Montgomery counties. There have been no reports of damage or injury from the bear, according to ODNR.

Weaver said ODNR believes the bear is looking to establish a new home range and find a mate.

If residents spot the bear, Weaver said people should not approach it because it could feel threatened. Also, the bear should never be fed by people, Weaver said, because it can become acclimated to receiving food from people.

“This is the way someone can get injured or if the bear becomes assimilated to being fed, we’ll have to destroy it,” Weaver said. “This is the last thing we want to do.”

Last year, 105 bear sightings were reported in 21 counties, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

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