Black bear spotted in Butler County, adding to the list of area bear sightings
Black bear seen in Butler County – Photo from Butler County Sheriff’s Office
BUTLER COUNTY, Ala. (WAKA) – A black bear has been spotted in Butler County, which is the latest sighting of a bear in our area this summer.
Saturday, sheriff’s deputies were called to Kolb City Road near the Interstate 65 overpass southwest of Greenville. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources were also called to the scene to see if they could see the bear and attempt to catch it.
No injuries or destruction of property was reported.
The sheriff’s office warns you not to harm the bear and to keep your distance from it if it’s spotted again.
Black bear seen in Butler County – Photo from Butler County Sheriff’s Office
“Do not approach it or chase it, do not harass it or attempt to feed it,” Butler County Sheriff David Scruggs told Action 8 News. “The best thing to do is to move to a safe location and report it to the sheriff’s office. Once we get the report, we will report it to conservation and if they see fit for the biologist to come down, the biologist will come down and see about catching it.”
Sheriff Scruggs reminds you that harming a bear is a class A misdemeanor and could result in a $2,000 to $5,000 fine and up to one year in jail. You could also lose your hunting and fishing privileges for three years, and possible confiscation of any vehicles, weapons or other property used in the offense.
If you see the bear in Butler County, call the sheriff’s office’s non-emergency line at (334) 382-9911.
Black bears aren’t uncommon in Alabama, but we have had more sightings this year than usual.
Here’s a map of where they’ve been seen so far. That includes in Talladega, Alexander City, Elmore County, Montgomery and now Butler County.
We don’t know how many bears are involved in these sightings. The bear in Elmore County was hit by a car east of Wetumpka and had to be euthanized early this month. Just a couple of days later, what has to be a different bear was seen around Forest Avenue Magnet School in Montgomery.
