Bears spotted in two Middle Georgia counties

FORT VALLEY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Wildlife Resources Division issued alerts to Houston and Peach County residents, due to bears spotted in the area.

According to Wildlife Biologist, Bobby Bond, as human populations increase in areas of traditional bear habitat, bears become accustomed to people and houses. He says sometimes they will ignore their traditional diet to obtain easy non-natural foods like garbage, pet food, and birdseed.

“We’ve had three bears spotted, in the Houston, and Peach County area, within the last week,” Bond said. We’ve had a couple around Warner Robins, and one close to Fort Valley, and the most recent one was near Dunbar Road, in Warner Robins.”

Bond also says most bears are simply moving through neighborhoods to find food.

“Most of the time, if bears smell humans around or know humans are around they will take off, and in all of these reports, the individual said the bears did runoff,” says Bond.

The wildlife resource division says if you encounter an aggressive or non-yielding bear, notify the authorities immediately.