A young black bear has captured the attention and hearts of many in Cincinnati, but human hearts are probably not what it’s looking for.
This bear is likely seeking a mate and is roaming as male bears do during the heat of mating season (June and July), said Steven Dobey, who serves as the bear program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources.
“He is likely on his first of many quests for love,” Dobey said. “Most of the female bears are in the mountains in eastern Kentucky. He took a wrong turn. He went right instead of left or in this case north instead of south.”
Dobey thinks the Cincinnati black bear calls the area near the Kentucky and West Virginia border home and is looking for a lady black bear where there is a severe shortage.
“Males get a little senseless this time of year, and this one is a little directionally challenged,” he said. “I have been here since 2005, and this is the first time that a bear has made it to the Cincinnati area.”
The first reported sighting in Ohio came in Miami Township, when a person called 911 just after 11 a.m. Tuesday to report seeing the bear in the 100 block of Nellie Avenue. Clermont County dispatchers confirmed a black bear was “running around” a Miami Township neighborhood.
The bear eventually made his way to a subdivision in Montgomery on Thursday, prompting residents and media to look for the bear despite being told to stay away by city and wildlife officials. They were concerned that, if the bear felt trapped or climbed a tree, it would have to be tranquilized, officials said.
Last Wednesday, a Kentucky wildlife officer saw a young black bear heading north in Robertson County.
The bear was tracked into Bracken County, from which he eventually swam across the Ohio River and entered Clermont County over the weekend, Dobey said.
Bears are good swimmers, and “what prompted this jokester to test his swimming skills, I don’t know,” Dobey said. “The river usually serves as a good border, but not in this case.”
Ohio Wildlife officials are taking a hands-off approach and are urging the public not to look for the bear so that it can continue its trek undisturbed.
That trek could be back home, likely without love.
“Bears have an uncanny homing instinct, and they generally find their way back home,” Dobey said.