A black bear had to be put down after it was hit by a vehicle here on Canada Day.
On July 1 at about 1:18am, Wellington County OPP received a report of a collision involving a 2007 Chevrolet and a small bear at Sideroad 3 and Wellington Road 6, southwest of Mount Forest.
“There was no damage to the vehicle however, the bear was badly injured and had to be dispatched,” stated an OPP press release. “The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) was notified.”
Police are reminding residents that incidents involving bears in Wellington County are extremely rare, but bears have been observed in the region over the last few years.
“If an encounter does occur police want to be notified as well as the MNR,” police state.
For emergency encounters call 911. For non-emergency encounters call 1-888-310-1122. Examples of emergency encounters would be a bear entering a school yard when school is in session, entering or trying to enter a residence, wandering into a public gathering, killing livestock/pets and lingering at the site, and stalking people and lingering around for an extended period of time.
For more information on black bears visit ontario.ca/page/prevent-bear-encounters-bear-wise.
