Black bear sightings up in Ohio

FINDLAY — Black bears, long considered an endangered species in Ohio, are being seen more frequently around the state. Over 200 Ohio sightings of the creature — more laid-back, skittish and smaller than brown bears of the West — were confirmed in 2024. The vast majority have been in eastern and southeastern Ohio, migrated from increasing black bear populations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Because of the local topography, it's unlikely the brown bears will migrate to Hancock County. But more on that point later. A black bear was hit and killed by a vehicle last month in Richland County, Jim Abrams reported in his weekly "Field Notes" column in The Courier. "There have been a handful of other sightings, a little further south (in) Morrow County, Delaware County," said Sarah Schott, wildlife communications specialist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The fringe "Those are what we call young, transient males. They are males that their mother basically just kicked them out," Schott said. "She's getting ready to have her next round of cubs, so she's no longer going to be caring for those cubs, and those young males are looking to establish a territory." The male bears also are seeking a female to breed with. "Because bears are very territorial, the male home range is very, very large and those males don't really like to overlap," she said. "So, the older males are going to outcompete with the younger males, and those younger males are going to get pushed more to the fringes, if you will." The largest Ohio population is in the state's most northeast county, Ashtabula. Then the bears gradually drift south along the Pennsylvania border, she said. "Bears really like large tracts of undisturbed habitat — so, forests. They like hill country kind of more than flat lands," Schott said. Eventually some go farther west into Licking and Fairfield counties, east of Franklin County. Some bears move as far northwest as Richland, Morrow and Delaware counties, and that's the limit. Just looking "They start running out of habitat and they kind of look around and they are like, 'We don't want to be here.' They have lost that undisturbed forest habitat," Schott said. "And what we'll see is they'll turn around and go back to Pennsylvania or they'll head south and they will go more toward Kentucky or West Virginia." Hancock County has two counts against it for black bears seeking a new home. It is flat and not heavily forested. Richland County, on the other hand, is in the area of Mohican State Park. "You have a few rolling hills and some pretty large forest tracts, but once you start moving into the true heart of northwest Ohio and you have that flat, those ag fields, (black bears) don't like that," she said. "So they rarely come that far northwest. Usually at Richland-Morrow County area they turn around and they go back to where they came from." Should area residents travel to eastern or southern Ohio and see a black bear, they needn't worry. Schott described black bears as "pretty laid back." "They're pretty skittish. The only time that you really see an 'aggressive' black bear — which is not aggressive when we think of bears — is when you have a mother with her cubs and she is going to protect them," she said. "Those are really the only situations where you see a black bear showing any signs of aggression. Even then her first instinct is to run away and get her cubs back to safety." "Other than that, a lone black bear, they're pretty skittish. If people are in the area making loud noises, they get scared really easy, they just go the other direction," Schott said. "They don't want to be around people. They certainly don't want to get close enough to have that human conflict." The brown, grizzly bears, which can be more aggressive, are found west of the Mississippi River, she said. Black bears also are smaller. "Especially our Ohio bears, they really only range from 100 to 200 pounds, which is pretty small," she said. "They're pretty relaxed. They're not as aggressive as people think they might be." Be loud For those who would be hiking in eastern or southern Ohio, Schott has some suggestions should you encounter a black bear. "We encourage people to just be loud and as big as they can if you see a bear and if it's close by," she said. "If you're hiking on a trail in southeast Ohio and you come across a bear and it's pretty close and it notices you, you shout at it," Schott said. "Some people say, 'Hey bear.' Talk to it, be very loud, wave your arms, try to appear as big as you can to let it know you are there, so you are not surprising it. And oftentimes it will kind of just slowly run off." "If it's off in the distance, there's no need to disturb and try to make a ruckus to scare it off," she said. If you are in a safe position, Schott said you can try to take a picture and submit it to state wildlife officials online at wildohio.gov "That is one of the main ways we monitor the black bear population in Ohio," she said.