WASHINGTON — A black bear spotted in the region has been caught on video, but not everyone is happy about it.
Maryland Natural Resources Police responded to a report of a bear near a picnic pavilion along the Patapsco River in Baltimore County Sunday.
Two officers found the bear and kept an eye on it for a while.
As they did, they shot a short video that was posted to social media.
In the video, you see one officer posing in the foreground as the bear crawls around in the background.
Watch the video:
Officers on patrol in Baltimore County discovered a friend… pic.twitter.com/YYcdbmHiib
— MD NRP (@MDNRPolice) July 3, 2016
“Some folks were delighted to see it, but some folks thought we were encouraging other folks to do this,” said Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson.
She says there were two trained officers on the scene, and they were a safe distance from the bear.
“We don’t discourage people from viewing wildlife. We want people to enjoy seeing wildlife, but to take all the precautions that we list on our website.”
The bear in the video is believed to be the same young male that’s been spotted often over the last five weeks.
“We know this bear has been in Greenbelt, we know it’s been in Beltsville, it’s been all over Howard County, and it’s been in southern Baltimore County. And there were sightings of a small bear at College Park at the University of Maryland just last month.”
Thomson says the bear is looking for a home.
“He’s a yearling, so he’s not a cub. He’s moved up to that next age range of bears. He’s been thrown out of mom’s den to go find his own turf.”
