Wildlife officials aware of several black bear sightings in north Bellingham neighborhoods

Recent bear sightings in Bellingham’s Barkley and Tweed Twenty neighborhoods have prompted concern on social media and caused two Bellingham schools to take extra precautions last week.

Bears are common in Whatcom County and were showing normal behavior for them this time of year as they fatten up for winter hibernation, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife official told The Bellingham Herald.

“It’s just bears being bears,” Fish and Wildlife’s Chase Gunnell said in a interview.

Fish and Wildlife has received reports over the past week of an adult black bear and cub moving through areas northeast of Bellingham, Gunnel said. They were seen most recently near the community of Laurel north of Bellingham.

There were at least two bear sightings Wednesday near both Northern Heights Elementary and Squalicum High, the schools’ principals said in a letter to students and staff.

“The bear did not approach any students and was not on our campuses,” Laurel Peak of Squalicum and Pam Pottle of Northern Heights said in the joint letter, which a school district official shared with The Herald.

“Classes, lunch and recess will proceed as normal, and we will have some additional supervision for elementary students when outside for recess. Elementary families: Out of an abundance of caution, if you will be dropping your child off late or picking them up early for any reason, please escort them to and from the office and your vehicle,” Peak and Pottle said.

Fish and Wildlife biologists and police officers are monitoring the reports, Gunnel said. Bear sightings can be reported online .

Black bears are common throughout Washington, including in suburban areas. Fish and Wildlife estimates that there are about 22,000 black bears in the state.

“In general, black bears are strongly associated with forest cover, but they do occasionally use relatively open country, such as clear cuts and the fringes of other open habitat,” Gunnel told The Herald in an email.

A bear that The Herald dubbed “Barkley Bear” amused residents in the spring and early summer of 2017 as it roamed through the Barkley neighborhood, munching on birdseed and eluding a game warden determined to trap him.

Barkley Bear gained celebrity status as he wandered across decks, raided bird feeders, peered into windows and took a dip in a pool, among other antics. He was last seen headed north, possibly to British Columbia.

In 2017, Barkley found plentiful foraging opportunities at homes along Bellingham’s urban trails. Gunnel is urging residents to empty their bird feeders, secure their trash cans and harvest fruit from backyard trees.

“Do anything you can to keep them from being habituated to non-native food sources,” Gunnell said.