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FWC warns of bear sightings in Tampa Bay area
Josh Cascio reports
TAMPA, Fla. - A young black bear was spotted outside Bay Crest Elementary School in Tampa Tuesday morning.
"For the most part, in the bear's brain he just wants to find a new place to live," said FWC Bear Program Manager Michael Orlando.
This morning's sighting is believed to be connected to the dozen or so other sightings over the past few weeks in the Carrollwood area.
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A young black bear was spotted outside of a Tampa elementary school.
FWC says this is the time of year when young bears basically move away from home looking to start their own lives.
"They're basically trying to spread out across the landscape and find new places to live that's not in the middle of their mother's home range. Unfortunately, they run into cities and towns, and currently we have bears in heavily human populated areas Tampa and Orlando," he explained.
The bear was last seen heading northwest of the school.
Bay Crest Elementary school got an unexpected visitor.
If it's anything like the three black bears at ZooTampa, it'll be resting during the day and most active at dawn and dusk.
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"Bears can smell from over one mile away they have an incredible smell and are attracted here, hence we have a nuisance bear who got into that behavior," said ZooTampa's Jaime Vaccaro. "Observe from a distance, make a lot of noise, but you don't want the bear to associate you with food or give it any reason to stick around," she added.
FWC says it is monitoring the bear, and leaving all options on the table if they need to help it find a safer location.