SOUTH BEND (WKZO) — A Michigan black bear has now gone were few of his kind have traveled in history, at least the history that we have recorded.
The young male was first spotted near South Haven and then made his way south through Van Buren County, giving Berrien County the first black bear sighting it has had in a century.
It’s now been spotted just North West of South Bend in Indiana.
Is he is the Marco Polo of Michigan black bears? Can he be called a furry Christopher Columbus, or Vasco De Gama, looking for that southern route to the promised land?.
Actually DNR wildlife specialists think he is just following a trail of easy meals and bird feeders wherever it takes him.
Wildlife Specialists say normally black bears don’t travel further south than Grand Rapids.
They say if this remarkable bear stays out of traffic and out of trouble, he will eventually head back north to look for a mate. There are no females where he is headed.
The next bear south lives in the Indianapolis zoo and its a Polar Bear.