Sighting of black bear first since Christmas, 1868 (June 15 near Michigan City, IN)

from HARBOR COUNTRY news:
NEW CARLISLE, Ind. — A black bear recently caught on video at a bird feeder near Hartford and later reported everywhere from Royalton and Oronoko townships in Michigan to just over the state line in Indiana between New Carlisle and Galien was reportedly seen near Michigan City, Ind., on Monday, June 15, 2015.

Wildlife biologists with the Indiana DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife said the bear had turned west, based on evidence collected over the weekend of June 13-14 and reported sightings Monday near Michigan City.

"Definitely a bear track," DNR wildlife biologist Budd Veverka said after examining photographs of paw prints found near Springville, a small community just north of the Indiana Toll Road in La Porte County. "No doubt. And it continues to follow the predicted path based on the terrain."

Already constituting the first confirmed black bear in Berrien County since just before Christmas 1868, when one was reported by the Niles Republican newspaper, as having been chased by hunters through the then undrained swamps of Lake and Weesaw townships, the ursine traveler also has made history in the Hoosier state.

According to the book Mammals of Indiana by John O. Whitaker, Jr., and Russell E. Mumford, the last confirmed report of a resident wild black bear in Indiana was in 1850. Whitaker and Mumford report a bear sighting in northwest Indiana in 1871 but note it was forced south from Michigan to escape a series of fires known historically as the Great Michigan Fire.

The black bear, a young male, has been tracked from near Muskegon by Michigan DNR officials. Indiana DNR officials predict the bear will eventually make its way back north to Michigan, and members of the DNR organizations from both states are working together to track the bear's movements.
http://www.harborcountry-news.com/articles/2015/06/17/news/doc557c24a830b93039074468.txt