Black Bear At Border Of New Castle, Ossining and Yorktown

NEW CASTLE, NY — A black bear was sighted in New Castle near the border with Ossining and Yorktown. The bear was seen near the intersection of Vails Lane and Inningwood Road, near Millwood.

Be cautious and stay alert, police said.

The leading cause of bear complaints in New York is bears getting into residential garbage and birdfeeders, according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

Find information in the brochure Living With Bears.

Become a Citizen Scientist for Black Bear Research and Management

iSeeMammals is a new citizen science project of the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University and DEC. It seeks to collect data to help researchers and DEC biologists study the distribution and size of the black bear population in New York. iSeeMammals will help researchers collect data over more areas than what researchers could cover in the field.

Participation is open to all. iSeeMammals collects information about where and when users identify bears or bear signs (scat, tracks, hair, markings) while on hikes or on their personal trail cameras. Photographs of observations, repeat hikes, and trail cameras set up for multiple months are strongly encouraged. An app for data collection and submission is available for free download in Apple and Android stores.

Visit iSeeMammals website to learn more about the project:

• To access photo galleries of iSeeMammals data as photos are submitted
• For information on bear ecology and bear management in New York
• For fun quizzes, contests, and giveaways.

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