Black bear killed on Route 11
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LISBON -- A 230-pound black bear was killed while crossing state Route 11 near the West Point exit about 3 a.m. Monday.
Jamey Emmert of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources confirmed the male bear was struck by a passing motorist, with news of the incident posted on the ODNR Division of Wildlife's Facebook page on Tuesday. The newspaper did not receive a report from the highway patrol.
While bear sightings in Columbiana County are rare, they do occur, but usually in the northern and southern parts of the county. West Point is in the central part of the county, but Emmert said bears roam about and can cover a lot of ground.
"We didn't know of any problems around (West Point), but they can travel great distances in a short time," she said, adding they are generally most active from dusk to dawn, especially as the weather warms.
There are about 70 individual bear sightings in Ohio annually, which excludes multiple sightings of the same bear, and the county usually accounts for some of them, Emmert said.
"It's not unusual to get these reports out of Columbiana County given your proximity to Pennsylvania" and its large black bear population, she said.
There were two separate confirmed reports of bear activity last year, and one involved the same adult bear that was seen several times in the East Liverpool area. Emmert said the other sighting was in Wayne Township.,
According to the ODNR, black bears range in size from 100 to 400 pounds, and the majority are juvenile males that weigh between 125 and 250 pounds. Listed as an endangered species in Ohio, black bears are omnivores and usually fearful of people and will not attack as long as they are not cornered and given space to escape.
"Black bears are pretty passive. They're like giant raccoons," Emmert said.