Bear cub spotted wandering through SW Redmond

A young bear cub was spotted wandering through yards in a southwest Redmond neighborhood Saturday afternoon, prompting authorities to urge people not to approach the animal and to secure their pet food and garbage cans.

The bear cub last was seen near Southwest 41st Street and Salmon Place, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said in a brief social media posting with a photo of the cub.

Resident Courtney Shaver Duffy shared several photos of the bear cub, which she said was going through yards of homes in the area.

The sheriff’s office Facebook post prompted several commenters to urge that the cub not be killed Duffy said sheriff’s deputies advised that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was not going to dispatch or relocate the young cub.

ODFW says in its Living with Wildlife page on black bears that Oregon is home to about 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, North America’s most common bear species (which can be brown, cinnamon or blond).

Deputies later said it was fairly rare for a bear cub to be wandering alone, so far from forested areas, but that all hope it will return to its family.

ODFW says, “Bears should never be allowed access to human food or garbage; it habituates them to people and increases the chance of conflict. Once habituated to finding food near homes or campgrounds, bears can become a threat to human safety and must often be destroyed.”

KTVZ 2019