{"id":799788,"date":"2026-08-02T19:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799788\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T19:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:06:19","slug":"black-bear-spotted-roaming-shelby-county-neighborhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799788\/","title":{"rendered":"Black bear spotted roaming Shelby County neighborhoods"},"content":{"rendered":"

SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC<\/a>) – A wild black bear has been spotted moving through Shelby County neighborhoods this week, drawing attention on social media and prompting safety guidance from wildlife experts.<\/p>\n

Amanda Haney, a lead animal care professional at the Birmingham Zoo, said the sighting is not entirely unusual. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been cases over the years where there are some black bears that cross through Birmingham,\u201d Haney said. \u201cIt\u2019s suspected that they\u2019re traveling maybe from one population to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haney said Alabama has two black bear populations, one near Fort Payne and one near Mobile, and the Shelby County bear may be traveling between them. She added that it is currently breeding season, a time when male black bears can significantly expand their range.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis might be a younger male who\u2019s kind of figuring stuff out a little bit,\u201d Haney said. \u201cHe\u2019s still figuring out what the do\u2019s and the don\u2019ts are being a functional bear by himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts said the most important step residents can take is to maintain distance. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t go up and approach them, they\u2019re going to leave you alone,\u201d Haney said. \u201cKeeping 20 yards away is probably a good bet. The further distance you give them, the safer you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haney said that rule protects both people and the bear. The Birmingham Zoo\u2019s two black bears, Betty and Sassy, were rescued from Montana after people fed them and they lost their ability to survive in the wild. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey got to the point where they were too comfortable with people and they became a danger to themselves and to others,\u201d Haney said.<\/p>\n

Haney said she does not expect the bear to remain in the area long. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he is looking for a female for breeding season, he\u2019s not going to find one around here,\u201d she said. \u201cHe probably won\u2019t make a home base here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA wild black bear has been spotted moving through Shelby County neighborhoods this week, drawing attention on social media and prompting safety guidance from wildlife experts.(Tom Haney)<\/p>\n

In the meantime, experts recommend that residents secure trash, bring in bird feeders, and monitor gardens. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven though wildlife can be really, really cute, we want to make sure that we give it space and let it truly be wild,\u201d Haney said.<\/p>\n

Experts also recommend calling Alabama Wildlife Resources or local law enforcement if the bear appears injured, disoriented, or is approaching people directly.<\/p>\n

Get news alerts in the Apple App Store<\/a> and Google Play Store<\/a> or subscribe to our email newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WBRC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) – A wild black bear has been spotted moving through Shelby County neighborhoods this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[120216,339607,339610,339608,5183,339616,339604,7438,339617,339605,339615,16638,339606,42684,339611,79,42696,339612,339613,339614,339618,42681,258578,258577,339609,258576,258575,258572,201],"class_list":["post-799788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-abby","tag-abby-haymond","tag-abby-haymond-reporter","tag-abby-haymond-wbrc","tag-alabama","tag-alabama-bear","tag-amanda-haney","tag-bear","tag-bear-in-alabama","tag-birmingham-zoo","tag-birmingham-zoo-bears","tag-black-bear","tag-haymond","tag-myfoxal","tag-reporter-abby-haymond","tag-science","tag-shelby-county","tag-shelby-county-al","tag-shelby-county-ala","tag-shelby-county-alabama","tag-shelby-county-bear","tag-wbrc","tag-wbrc-6-news","tag-wbrc-6news","tag-wbrc-abby-haymond","tag-wbrc-fox-6-news","tag-wbrc-fox6-news","tag-wbrc-news","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}