A roving black bear earlier this month for wandering neighborhoods near Dayton and Cincinnati.
Sightings in that region are rare, said Katie Dennison, a biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, as the species generally prefers areas with more plentiful natural resources and potential mates. But black bears are expanding their range in the state.
鈥淭he best evidence we have [of resident bears] is when we see sows, female bears with cubs,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we have had a few of those recorded in recent years, particularly in northeast Ohio, around Ashtabula and Trumbull counties.鈥�
The return of black bears
Black bears were completely wiped out of Ohio in the mid-1800s.
鈥淭hey originally left because of loss of forested habitat as well as unregulated hunting,鈥� Dennison said.
But now, the state has restored forests, especially in eastern parts of the state. And at the same time, the black bear population in neighboring states, like , has grown.
鈥淪o there's plenty of bears to move back into Ohio,鈥� she said.
Still, that process can take a long time because unlike male bears, who sometimes stray far from home, female bears generally don鈥檛 travel far.
鈥淪ometimes they'll just establish home ranges that overlap that of their mother,鈥� Dennison said. 鈥淪o that can be a very slow process for them to move into a new area. But once they're in that area and reproducing and adding new bears to the population, it goes faster.鈥�
Black bear research
Dennison is working with researchers at the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the University of Dayton to capture and fit up to 20 bears in the state with GPS collars.
The collars transmit location data, which scientists can use to learn more about the bears鈥� preferred habitat and how much space they need.
They鈥檒l also follow female bears to learn how many cubs they have and whether those cubs survive.
鈥淎ll of that information can be put into models to help us come up with some projections for where bears might continue to expand and how fast we might expect them to expand in the state,鈥� Dennison said.
Bear safety
As bears continue to recolonize Ohio, sightings of them could become more frequent 鈥� even in places like the Cincinnati suburbs.
鈥淭hat was an unusual situation,鈥� Dennison said, 鈥渂ut not unusual for the time of year.鈥�
In June and July, young bears leave their mother鈥檚 home range and go off on their own. Males in particular can travel long distances, Dennison said, sometimes over a hundred miles.
鈥淲e think that's what happened with the bear that was seen in Dayton and Cincinnati,鈥� she said.
That bear was last spotted heading southeast of Cincinnati, to an area more hospitable to the species. But if you spot him 鈥� or another black bear in the state 鈥� Dennison said the best thing to do is give it space.
鈥淭heir natural response when they see a person is going to be fear and they're going to want to run away,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o the best thing that you can do is try and encourage that. You don't want to run yourself. Instead make yourself look as big as possible, put your arms up in the air, you can wave them around, you can make a lot of noise. And that'll reinforce that fear of humans in the bear and hopefully get them to move along to another place.鈥�
