What Was A Black Bear Doing Roaming Around Pittsburgh's Highland Park Neighborhood?
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It was the video everyone was talking about yesterday: a bear roaming through the city's Highland Park neighborhood. It came as more bears have been spotted north of the city in Ross Township.
KDKA's Chris Hoffman checked in with an animal expert to see why the wild animals have ended up in populated areas.
One of the sightings in Ross township was at the McKnight Village playground Tuesday. A sign was put up, serving to caution people that bears were spotted in that area.
For Matt McGinley, the field in McKnight Village was a good spot to work on baseball skills with his son. The sign at the gate wasn't stopping them.
"At this point, it seems like a one-off occurrence, so I'm not too worried about it," he says.
According to Ross Township police, the bears were spotted in McKnight Village and in the Radcliff subdivision.
"I've heard of some coyotes coming in with the deer. We saw a fox recently, but never any bears," says McGinley.
KDKA's Chris Hoffman spoke with Henry Kacprzyk with the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. He says breeding season is one of the factors to the numerous sightings.
"So breeding season is a time of some dispersal. So they may be moving into their areas they typically live in as a habitat," says Kacprzyk.
According to Kacprzyk, other reasons include their population has continued to increase over the past couple decades. And with most of us inside during the COVID-19 quarantine, animals took some land back.
"Doesn't seem that far-fetched to me that a bear is coming in, especially anywhere along the rivers," he says.
With this time of year, bears are also searching for food in bird feeders and garbage, and it's not a myth that they like honey: "There are people who have beehives and that could bring a bear into your yard."
Kacprzyk says if you see one, try to just back up and leave it alone. Attacks are extremely rare.
"Let's share the land. Let's not try to eliminate them. Let's try to live with them," he says.
The game commission says the bear in Highland Park was a young adult about 230 to 250 pounds. They say if you see one in your neighborhood, give them call.