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VIDEO: Black bear spotted in Akron

Posted at 7:06 AM, May 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-17 18:58:05-04

A black bear was spotted wandering around Akron Tuesday morning.

Newsnet5.com's overnight photographer Mike Vielhaber spotted the bear around 7 a.m. off Faye Road on the southeast part of town.

 

The bear now has a Twitter account @AkronBear.  The first Tweet was to Retweet  Vielhaber's Tweet.

Akron police also released video of the bear.

A black bear was seen last week in North Canton. On Monday, North Canton police reported the last sighting as Saturday around 11:13 p.m. After two days of not seeing the bear, officials said they hoped the bear had safely moved on.

Officials believe the sightings in North Canton and Akron involve the same bear.

According to Laura Graber from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, the bear weighs between 250 and 300 pounds and appears to be at least three years old.

Graber said mating season is from May to July and the bear may be looking for a female mate or food.

There are roughly 50 to 100 black bears in Ohio. Northeast Ohio has the highest number of sightings in the state, according to Graber.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife does not plan on trapping the bear unless he gets stuck or begins to cause problems. 

Graber said pets should be kept on leashes and residents should not corner the bear.

"The best thing to do is make noise, claps your hands, yell at the bear, let the bear know you're there and normally they'll run off," she said.