As Bear Sightings Grow In VA, Residents Urged To Keep Their Distance

VIRGINIA — From Arlington to Richmond, black bears are making appearances in suburban parts of Virginia.

Wildlife experts say it’s not uncommon to see bears across most of Virginia, including in highly populated areas, and that the bears pose little threat as long as residents keep their distance.

Most of the bear sighting are probably of younger bears, around 2 years old. In the spring and early summer, these young bears, mostly males, are leaving their mothers and trying to find their own territory. Experts refer to them as teenagers trying to find their way.

A black bear believed to be healthy and young was spotted in Arlington earlier this week, walking through people's yards and getting into trash carts. An Arlington resident took a video of the young bear walking through the Maywood community.

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington warned residents against trying to find this bear or any other bear to photograph it.

"This is very dangerous, and can cause harm to you, others, and the bear," the Animal Welfare League of Arlington said.

Instead, AWLA encourages residents to call 703-931-9241 if they spot a bear, and keep a safe distance from it.

Reactions to the bear in Arlington varied among residents in Northern Virginia. One resident commented on the McLean Patch Facebook page that "their environment has been taken by all the buildings and construction that they need to come out for survival."

Another resident said: "Just let it walk thru … leave it alone."

"I am glad it wasn’t in our neighborhood," another resident wrote about the bear sighting in Arlington.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources says bears can be spotted in many parts of the state any time of year, but are more common during the late spring and summer months.

About four black bears have been seen in the Richmond area. David Garst, Richmond district biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, told Axios the bears being spotted in the area will likely settle in their new homes and will be less noticeable by mid-July.

About a month ago, a bear was spotted in a neighborhood near Short Pump in Henrico County, west of Richmond. "It is very common this time of year to see bears out and about" when natural food supplies are limited, the Henrico County Police said.

READ ALSO: Bear Spotted Walking Through Yards, On Porches In Arlington

Over the past few decades, reforestation and state management have resulted in black bears becoming more common in the state. A year ago, a Virginia wildlife official put the count of black bears in Virginia at between 18,000 and 20,000.

An indicator of the number of bears in Virginia is how many hunters have killed them during the permitted hunting season. According to numbers released by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources earlier this year, hunters reported killing 2,988 bears during the 2021–22 bear hunting seasons in Virginia.

The number of bears killed was down slightly — about 14 percent — from the previous year and 16 percent lower than the statewide harvest reported during the 2019-20 record season, the department said.

But the number of bear killings in the latest hunting season was only 1 percent lower than the previous five-year average from 2016 to 2020, according to the DWR.

Black bears are Virginia's largest land mammal, capable of living in the wild for 30 years or more and ranging from 175 to 400 pounds.

Before their numbers started to grow, the black bear population in Virginia had declined to about 1,000 by the middle of the 20th century. With their numbers increasing, black bears are now making their way into suburban areas in central and Northern Virginia.

Black bears in Virginia feed mainly on berries and fruits, nuts, grasses and insects. Their diet is approximately 75 percent vegetarian. Only rarely do they kill for food; and when they do, their prey is most always a young, injured or defenseless animal.

Unfortunately, vehicle collisions with black bears happen occasionally with the increase in the bear population and suburban sprawl. In 2019, a Virginia Department of Transportation crew found a dead bear on Interstate 66.

Humans and black bears should be able to coexist, even as the bears move into suburban areas looking for food, according to experts.

Chester Leonard, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke, told WXFR that residents should not be surprised to see black bears. “Humans, we are expanding into their habitats, and we are moving to their backyard,” Leonard said. “It’s not our backyard. They were there first.”

Humans need to learn to live with bears, he said.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has some advice should you come across a black bear:

• Stay calm. If you see a bear and it has not seen you, calmly leave the area. As you move away, make noise to let the bear discover your presence.
• Stop. Back away slowly while facing the bear.
• Give the bear plenty of room to escape. Bears rarely attack people unless they feel cornered or provoked.
• Do not run or make any sudden movements. Running could prompt the bear to give chase, and you cannot outrun a bear. If on a trail, step off the trail and slowly leave the area.
• If a bear is in your yard and it approaches you, make yourself look big and make loud noises. Remain at a safe distance and throw rocks to make the bear feel unwelcome.
• If a bear is in your house, prop open all doors to the outside and get out of the way of the exit. Never close a bear into a room. Make noises and yell at the bear to leave the house. Don't approach the bear, but make sure it knows it is violating your territory.
• If you surprise a bear, speak softly. This may reassure the bear that you mean it no harm.
• Fight back, if a black bear attacks you. Black bears have been driven away when people have fought back with rocks, sticks, binoculars and even their bare hands.

RELATED: Black Bear Population Makes Great Comeback In Virginia: Report