GREENE COUNTY — A woman spotted a black bear while driving through Greene County.
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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson speaks to the woman who saw the bear and a wildlife officer LIVE on News Center 7 at 11.
The bear was first seen in Clinton County two weeks ago, but it was spotted in Greene County near US 68 yesterday.
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Lauren Robinette was on her way home from work around 8 p.m. Thursday.
“I saw it a few yards away. I mean, maybe half a mile. It looked like a big dog at first,” Robinette said.
Robinette says she kept driving.
“The closer I got, the bigger it got, and it wasn’t moving,” Robinette said. “It was still just kind of standing there, staring at me. That’s when I realized what it was.”
Robinette slowed down to a crawl and took out her phone and took pictures of the bear.
“It seemed like it was lost and didn’t know what it was doing,” Robinette said.
Alex Almeter is a Greene County Wildlife Officer. Almeter says this is a 2-year-old male black bear that is travelling alone.
“When they’re getting kicked out of the den from the mother, will migrate north,” Almeter said.
Almeter says if you see the bear, do not approach it. He suggests taking a picture and reporting the sighting to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
“We haven’t had any reports of it being aggressive. I haven’t heard any property damage or anything,” Almeter said.
He also says to make sure there’s no food lying around.
Robinette says she’s glad she took the photos when she did.
“To see the bear, I thought, was something I’ll never see again,” Robinette said.
ODNR will continue to monitor the bear, but will not interfere with the bear’s natural summer movements.
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