WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A video posted to Facebook over the weekend shows a black bear cub running through the Timberland apartment complex in the heart of Williamsport.
Newswatch 16 sat down with Emily Carrollo, a black bear specialist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. She says it's not uncommon for young bears to venture into populated areas this time of the year.
"Towards the end of May bears start to be kicked out of their family groups with their mothers," said Carrollo. "So, what you see is young bears on the landscape looking for new home ranges of their own."
There have been a few incidents this year of bears wandering in urban parts of Lycoming County. Last month the Game Commission had to remove a bear from Hughesville.
"Sometimes these young bears encounter things we don't necessarily want them to get into, like being found in a tree in the middle of the city with no way out, dumpster diving behind a restaurant or up on people's porches," Carrollo said.
In addition to calling the Game Commission, here is what you should and shouldn't do if you happen to spot a black bear in your neighborhood...
"What you should do is always give the bear as much space as possible and what you shouldn't do is approach a bear and get closer," she stated.
After the bear was tranquilized in Williamsport, Game Commission officers used this opportunity to teach onlooking community members about the animal.
"In these scenarios, our law enforcement has the ability to educate people on how to live with black bears, why they are so important to have on the landscape, and why they are culturally important to the Pennsylvania public," Carrollo added.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission says the bear in Williamsport was released back into the wild. More information on black bears can be found here.