Black Bear Seen In Northern Vanderburgh County

By John Gibson, WNIN

June 29, 2021

In a release, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources says its biologists confirmed the sighting northeast of Evansville, near the Warrick County town of Elberfeld early Sunday morning.

The officials studied a photo taken by a property owner that showed the adult bear in a clearing near a wooded area.

DNR mammalogist Brad Westrich said it was Indiana’s fourth confirmed black bear.

He noted the bear population is expanding in neighboring states.

Westrich says black bears are rarely aggressive toward human but he recommends removing or securing potential food sources from your yard.

He says bears can smell food “from more than a mile away.”

Suggestions include: do not feed a bear, observe it from a distance, do not climb a tree, advertise your presence by shouting and waving your arms while backing slowly away, and report bear sightings to the Indiana Division of Fish & Wildlife.

WNIN is the NPR/PBS affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. We serve Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois from our multimedia facility located on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville. For the past several years, the recognized quality of our local news has placed us among the best small market radio news organizations in the nation.