Camera footage courtesy of Yellow Springs resident Melissa Heston.
Black bear spotted in Yellow Springs
- Published: June 29, 2025
After several reported sightings in the region and county, a young black bear made its way to Yellow Springs on Saturday, June 28.
Around 9:30 p.m., a village resident’s security camera caught a bear roaming around the front yard of a Fairfield Pike home, just a few blocks away from downtown Yellow Springs.
According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Ohio Black Bear Monitoring Report, last published in Nov. 2023, the Division of Wildlife has received two to three more confirmed black bear sighting reports throughout the state per year than it did when sighting data were first collected in the 1990s.
The highest recorded sightings was in 2022, with 285 sightings in 52 of Ohio’s 88 counties; Greene County was not among those.
Native to the state, black bears were extirpated from Ohio by the mid-nineteenth century due to habitat loss and overharvest.
To report additional black bear sightings, go to http://www.ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/wildlife/Report+Wildlife+Sightings
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