About 12,000 black bears live in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
But Michigan's wildlife management plan includes letting black bears move back into southern parts of the state — as long as they don't cause problems.
So the state is planning to leave a black bear that's been seen in the southeast city of Flat Rock alone. Cody Norton is the state DNR's black bear specialist. He said the state's black bear population began growing in 2012 (it's since stabilized) which has led to more "dispersing," meaning leaving their home range and trying to find a new area that isn't dominated by a larger dominant individual.
Norton said that's probably what the bear seen in Flat Rock is doing.
"My best bet would be that it is cruising," Norton said. "It doesn't know what's in front of it, it doesn't know what's just around the corner, it's looking for suitable habitat and potentially some other bears in the future."
Norton said black bears are very shy, and physical interactions between humans and black bears are extremely rare.
"This bear so far has been avoiding people and avoiding human-provided foods and really not causing any issues besides, you know, excitement around it being in the area," he said.
The DNR says people who live near black bears should take steps to keep the animals from looking for food from humans. Those steps include not putting the trash can out until the night before pickup day, not leaving pets' food outside, taking down bird feeders in the spring, and thoroughly cleaning the grill after cooking outside.
As to how to behave if you ever do come close to a black bear, Norton said you should not run, but rather face the bear, talk loudly (without screaming) and if you can, raise your arms in the air to look more threatening. If you have a child or pet with you, he said it's best to pick them up to prevent them from running, and, still facing the bear, take small steps backwards.
