Gwinnett County

Black Bear making Gwinnett neighborhoods his stomping grounds

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — He has become a common sight in the neighborhoods around the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County.

“We’ve gotten several reports of him over the past 3 weeks. Just kind of moving around, bouncing from neighborhood to neighborhood,” DNR Wildlife Biologist Kaitlin Goode said.

Goode is tracking a young, 150-pound black bear. She has a map that shows where the bear has been during the month of July. He has become the star on local social media sites, and because he has been spotted over and over again, some locals are a bit concerned. “I can understand somebody being alarmed to the situation, but bears---black bears, in particular--want nothing to do with people,” Goode said.

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It’s food he wants, and Goode says that easy access to trash cans and bird feeders may be keeping him around. DNR is asking residents to do their part to convince the bear to go back to where he came from—the North Georgia mountains.

“If you’re in a safe location and the bear has an escape route---yell, bang pots and pans--make your yard uncomfortable. It’s fine if you want to take a picture, but once you’re done, scare the bear,” Goode said.

Last month, DNR captured a bear that had been hanging around a Cobb County neighborhood. They took action because they thought it was injured. It wasn’t, so he was taken up to the mountains and released.