We have been notified that a young black bear was seen in the city limits of Havre de Grace last night and euthanized by the police department due to the perceived threat it could pose to the community. Many have asked why the Maryland Department of Natural Resources would not respond to tranquilize and trap the bear but from what we understand they do not remove and relocate bears unless they have caused a conflict with humans or show signs of aggression. This bear was likely looking for food and while we understand it may be unsettling to see one in a densely populated area, bears do not like being in close proximity to people for long and with enough loud noises it likely would have vacated to a more natural space. We were not there so we are only speculating based on other experiences.
To hopefully prevent some of these outcomes in the future, we are working to create a forum where we can work with our partners to help educate our community on how to live alongside and respond to bear encounters like this one. Sometimes a negative outcome is unavoidable but we want to make sure that the tools are there and can be utilized readily by those responding. We understand that here we all are not used to dealing with bears in the way that our western counties and neighboring states have learned to over the years since populations have become established. This is the time to learn before more bears arrive in our landscape.
Since we cannot change what already occurred and there have been other recent sightings in the more rural areas of the county, we wanted to reach out to all of you with some helpful tips and a video we love to post whenever one shows up. We hope to both protect future animals that may find their way here and prevent any negative encounters.
First, black bears were once a part of our local ecosystem but were wiped out due to over hunting and loss of habitat. Over time they have been expanding from the more wild areas to return to some of their former range. Thanks to land preservation efforts we now have better bear habitat than we have had for a long time. This is a good thing.
Should we be concerned? No, but we need to all work together to ensure the bear doesn’t get acclimated to humans providing it a food source. A good general rule is to never leave pet food outside, secure trash cans, and take down accessible bird feeders at night. If the bear shows any signs of aggression please stay indoors or leave its presence and contact Maryland DNR’s Bear Hotline 410-260-8888 or your local law enforcement agency. A bear simply showing up somewhere is not itself a threat.
Often seen as human-killers, black bear attacks are actually incredibly rare, with an estimated hundreds of thousands of black bears inhabiting North America, approximately 100 deaths that have been recorded in the last 100 years. Most of those were probably were related to a mother protecting her young. Our group at Susquehannock Wildlife Society has collectively encountered dozens of bears at varying distances while traveling around the country without incident but proper guidelines must be followed to prevent any preventable attacks.
Black bears are actually omnivores, mostly eating a variety of plants, berries, and less so, some prey items ranging from small rodents, fish, and on rarer occasion creatures as large as young deer.
If you see a bear and it is acting normally, there is nothing you need to do except enjoy the experience, keep a safe distance and take a photo! We know many of you would love to see them, but please do not pursue them, bears, like any animal will defend themselves if they feel threatened. The “rule of thumb” is a good way to gauge your proximity, if you can hold your thumb in front of your eye and obscure the animal, you are at least at the minimum distance, which for a bear is 200-300 feet.
Be safe and respect our wildlife. Through education and doing what we can to protect even the largest of species, we can coexist peacefully.
More information can be found here:
http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildl…/…/hunt_trap/bblivingwith.aspx
Black Bear Video:
https://youtu.be/yN5P2ppRcVU
Havre de Grace Police Department Statement:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2688144178135336&id=1539884252961340
