Young bear seen wandering around Bend

A young bear has been spotted roaming around several popular areas in Bend in recent days.

Reports of sightings started hitting social media Sunday morning. People say they saw a black bear cub wandering through shopping centers and neighborhoods.

Brittany Gabrelcik spotted it around 8:30 a.m. Sunday. She said she was working at the Starbucks in Colorado Crossing when it ran across the street and climbed into a fenced yard.

“It was super-small. Something you’d want to cuddle with you every single day. But it just looked kind of scared, it makes your little heartstrings pull,” Gabrelcik said Monday.

Later, the Bend Police Department received a call of another sighting, near Harmon Park.

“It ended up being a little bear cub that swam across the river and went across in the park, ran into some neighborhoods, climbed up a tree, fell out of a tree and took off,” Lt. Clint Burleigh said. “We searched the area and weren’t able to locate it.”

Burleigh said bears coming into town is not unheard of, but it’s extremely rare.

Oregon State Police also received several calls from people reporting sightings just north of the Old Mill and later by Drake Park.

Krayna Castelbaum, who lives on Northwest Federal Street, said she went outside to check out some commotion happening near her house around 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

“I saw all this action on the street,” she said. “I went to the door and just said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ And the cops said, “Please go back inside, there’s a bear cub in your side yard.’ And I said OK. And I felt concerned for that cub.”

According to a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, based on witness descriptions, the bear is young, but not a cub. It was likely born last year. They are not sure why it left the den, but asked anyone who sees it to give it space and give the ODFW Bend office at call, at 541-388-6363