Black bear spotted by deputy in Calloway County

A deputy in Calloway County spotted a black bear while on patrol on Saturday.

According to a Facebook post from the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office, one of their deputies saw the bear in the Dunbar area of New Concord.

The sheriff’s office assured the community that the deputy did not chase the bear on foot or in the patrol car--they left it alone. They urge local residents to do the same, and allow the bear to pass through our area.

It's not the first bear sighting in western Kentucky this month. On September 5, a resident of Fulton County saw a bear on their property outside Hickman. A week before that, a bear was sighted about 15 miles to the south at Reelfoot Lake in Obion County, Tennessee.

Earlier this summer, a bear was spotted wandering through Daviess, Ohio, Hopkins and Caldwell counties. That one may have originated in southern Illinois, coming after sightings around Harrisburg and Carrier Mills.

Wildlife officers note that many of our local bear sightings are of young males who swim across the Mississippi River from Missouri. Kentucky is also home to a resurgent bear population in the easternmost counties, and migration into central and western Kentucky is possible.