Bear Sightings Reported in Portsmouth

On Monday some city residents encountered a strange sight near their homes on Pearson and Bartlett streets when they saw a black bear roaming around their neighborhood, according to the Portsmouth Police log.

They were not alone. On Tuesday, an Ocean Road resident told police she saw a black bear on her back porch around 9 p.m. According to police, these were just two of several bear sightings reported around the city this week.

Since Monday, “there have been several bear sightings,” said Portsmouth Police Officer Dean Outhouse on Thursday morning.

He said the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Concord were notified, but police have not been able to actually locate any of the wayward bruins following each reported sighting. Overall, Outhouse said police are not that alarmed about the situation.

“It’s just nature,” he said. Outhouse said the city does have wooded areas that located near neighboring communities where the bears could come from. But he observed the bears have not been sighted in the South End or "walking through Market Square."

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is well aware of the potential problems that black bears can pose if they choose to go into populated areas in search of food.

On May 31, the state agency published a press release on their web site advising New Hampshire residents to be "bear-smart."

State Fish and Game Wildlife Chief Mark Ellingwood warned that people should never feed bears if they do see them in the backyards or neighborhoods. “Any feeding of bears is ill-advised and potentially illegal in N.H.,” said Ellingwood in a prepared statement. “Of equal importance, feeding can and often does result in a tragic outcome for bears."

Ellingwood said that even indirect feeding such as allowing bears to eat trash, consume back yard birdfeeders, or allow them to go dumpster diving can lead to problems that often result in the death of bears.